#i'm cursed and the vibes are exactly the vibes a cursed person should have

[rayveneyed]

continuation of this au

cw: mentions of cheating/infidelity/disloyalty; vague allusions to sex

“so, like, what’s his deal?”

two months into your relationship with sukuna ryomen, you’re personal-assistant-turned-friend carries a bouquet of a hundred red roses into your dressing room. they’re so large that they eclipse her entire top half, and she pants as she sets them down on the table, cursing to herself.

it’s the first night of your mini-tour, your first performance in a good few months, and you don’t bother pretending that the sight of the flowers doesn’t soothe your nerves immediately. there’s a little note attached to the pale-blue cellophane that hugs the flowers; in his chicken-scratch, a love letter. i already know you’ll knock it out of the park. blow their minds, baby.

you read it over and over again, mind flitting between the set list for the night and where you’d been just days earlier — in his home, in his bed, in his arms. he’d sent you off well and truly satisfied, called you almost every day since, and hadn’t missed a single good morning text. and now, this. you fight a swoon.

hair laid — 1940s pin curls — and makeup done (a deep, oxblood red lip, really selling the whole vintage aesthetic), you lift your head to peer at her in the mirror. karmen really would kill you if you got foundation on your neckline — the first dress of the concert is white, glimmering with rhinestones and embroidery, a more virginal jessica rabbit moment. you force yourself to hold your chin up and away from it. “hm?”

“you know.” unscrewing the lid of her water bottle, nina waves it in a vague shape in front of her. “sukuna. ryomen, that is.”

“is there any other?” you joke. she sends you perhaps the most unimpressed look she’s ever bequeathed you with.

“i just never thought he’d be your type,” she continues, casual. “like, real oil and water vibes. i don’t know. but the roses are a nice touch.”

you hum. you’ve known her long enough to not take offence to most of what nina says -- she's wonderfully blunt, and you value that greatly. instead, you pick up your phone and open the camera app, zooming in and out to snap a couple of pictures of your flowers. exposure up, down, up, down -- should you take one at an angle? “oil and water?”

“yeah, i guess." there's a moment of silence, and then: "like — you’re always talking about how you wanna settle down and get married and, like, be loyal to someone, y'know? and he’s just — look, i’m not saying that he’s not loyal to you, i’m just—”

she makes a noise of frustration, and you snort. "he's just, like, a little bit of a whore, right? sorry, i don't mean to be mean -- but has he had a serious relationship in the past 10 years? and all of a sudden he’s talking about you to anyone who will listen — allegedly. allegedly.” she pauses. “how are you taking this so lightly? i'm literally bagging on your man."

finally, you set your phone down, and actually take a second to heed her words.

in truth, you had been extremely cautious when sukuna first showed an interest in you -- sat beside each other at a fashion show, never having met before. you'd be stupid to call it mere coincidence -- nothing in this industry ever really is, and the organisers had definitely gotten the photo op moment they'd hoped for. you're almost 100% sure they hadn't expected for him to stare at you like an idiot, or for you to shoot him your most demure smile, or for the actor to pull out his most casanova-esque moves.

you're not stupid, and what nina says isn't wrong. you're not into hooking up, or one night stands, or being another notch on someone's bedpost -- you weren't before you got famous, and you sure as hell aren't now, when there are cameras around every corner and gossips at every table. and sukuna isn't exactly known for his long-standing relationships or his monogamy -- it's almost like a rite of passage, you think, for a girl to have a shadowy nightclub picture taken with sukuna. if not a shadowy nightclub picture, then a steamy pool shot, or a sensual beach picture, with his hands up her t-shirt and her's down his pants.

despite his general bad-boy appearances in the media, you'd heard that he was quite… kind, if that’s the word. brash, but kind. a little hardheaded, but hard-working, and not too difficult to work with. you've met music video directors that had sung his praises and trusted producers that had called him a good friend. maybe that's why you'd spoken to him when you caught him staring, instead of sending him a smile and continuing on.

"is this your first time at a mugler show?" because it had been yours, and you didn't know what else to say. you wouldn't call yourself shy, but you're certainly not the most adept at small talk -- and you're not ugly, but sukuna is intimidatingly pretty for a man. and the tattoos, and the hair, and those smouldering eyes and long lashes...

"not my first,” he'd replied, seemingly unbothered that he had been caught staring. "y’know, i don't think we've met before."

"no, i don't think we have.”

and yet, there’d been no need for introductions. you were both aware that the other knew who you were.

"you, uh — you doin' somethin' after this?" the question had come out of nowhere -- at least, to you it did. what you didn't know is that he'd been repeating the question to himself from the moment he'd sat down beside you. and while his face didn't betray anything -- his jaw set and his eyes in their usual half-lidded state -- if you'd reached out and placed a palm over his chest, his heartbeat would have rabbitted against your hand.

you had allowed yourself a smile, and tilted your head. of course, his reputation proceeded him — but you were nothing if not a risk taker. maybe that’s why, instead of outright denying his invitation, you said: “i don’t do casual, darling. sorry.”

his eyes had been almost piercing. that wasn’t a no. “who said anything about casual?”

you’d quirked an eyebrow. “really? you want to go steady with me?”

“why not?”

“you don’t even know me.”

“i want to.”

and fuck. it wasn’t the smartest decision in hindsight, leaving the show so openly with him — but you did, arm in arm, and he hadn’t yet broken your trust. perhaps stupid of you, you didn’t believe he would.

“y’know,” you say, snapping out of your memories. you’re back in your dressing room, clutching his card in hand, staring at your reflection. “i don’t know what it is. i don’t know why he suddenly changed his tune. i don’t know why it was with me. and — well, i know he won’t, but if one day he leaves me for some waify scandi model, i’ll know he didn’t really change at all.”

nina nods, slow, like she finally understands. “you’re going in headfirst.”

“yeah, i guess.”

“that shit’s scary.”

“yeah.” you lift the card to your face again, thumb smoothing over where he’d scrawled your name, the little heart where he signed his love. your cheeks feel hot. you know there’s a facetime call waiting for you when you’re back at the hotel, tucked into bed and sleepy. “it’s really not so bad, at the end of the day.”

[spiderluvbot]

🖇 ROMEO IN DISTRESS ! jacaerys velaryon.

summary — jace attempts to deal with newfound emotions while you attempt to avoid him. notes — here it is, finally. my war with tumblr is over. you should know a lot of words are in italics just for the vibes (?). aegon is about to be the nosiest bitch ever and i love that for him. warnings — cursing, slight drug mention, i have no idea how schools work in other countries.

previous • masterlist

ENGLISH IS MY SECOND LANGUAGE.

you quickly got out of the car, slamming the door shut as you mentally cursed helaena.

somehow, the walk to the door had felt both too long and too short. each step you took felt like it was bringing you closer to your own personal doom.

pulling out the spare key alicent had gifted you, you hoped that, miraculously, jace had suddenly decided to start leaving earlier, sparing you any awkward encounters.

your hands trembled as you unlocked the door, the heavy wood groaning as it moved aside to reveal the foyer. the house was quiet —too quiet, almost as if it were empty— and the feeling you had before entering, that it might swallow you whole, now seemed absurd.

letting out the breath you hadn't realized you were holding, you smiled to yourself. you were being completely ridiculous, everything was fine.

you headed to the stairs ready to bother helaena into hurrying up just in case, shaking your head at how stupid you were being when the sudden sound of a chair caught your attention.

jace and luke sat at the table eating their breakfast, you could see them from the spot near the stairs, where you had frozen.

the three of you shared an awkward glance. luke seemed aware of what was going on between you and his brother (whatever it was. you weren't sure yourself), because he looked as uncomfortable as you two did.

surprisingly, jace was the first to break the silence.

"hey."

"hey." you answered back, unsure of what else to say.

running away from your problems is never a good idea, but right now, that's exactly what you were going to do. you couldn't stand the way he looked at you. he had always looked at you like an acquaintance and nothing more, but now his eyes were so different. you weren't sure you liked different.

clearing your throat, you tried to avoid his stare as you pointed towards the stairs. "i'm just here to pick up helaena."

luke couldn't help but laugh, going back and forth between you sprinting upstairs and jace practically staring holes into the spot where you had been standing. he was sure his brother had never focused this hard on anything.

at first, he was ready to make fun of him —because what else were younger brothers for?— but the look on jace's face stopped him, he had that dumb smile again. so instead, he flicked a piece of cereal at him, hitting his cheek, and spoke softly once he had his attention.

"i like her for you."

"she's just a friend." jace answered fast, too fast for luke to believe him. "she's barely a friend, she's not even my friend, she's helaena's!"

his brother only raised his eyebrows, gaze unwavering.

"i just got out of a relationship."

"yeah, like three weeks ago. besides, weren't you telling sara to ask that girl she likes out last night?" luke rolled his eyes. "you know, you can start dating again. no one's gonna stop you."

"we barely know each other." jace had his arms crossed, his gaze fixed on the small cracks of the old table like they held all the answers.

sometimes he just couldn't understand jace. luke sighed, leaning back against his chair as he studied his brother. it was typical, jace overthinking things, acting like there were invisible rules he had to follow, to always be perfect.

"so get to know her." luke shrugged, picking up his dirty bowl and leaving his brother alone in the dining room.

jace remained seated, frozen in place as he anxiously bit his nails (a habit his mother chastised him for daily), and wondered what the hell he was supposed to do with his feelings.

luke's words kept repeating in his mind, no matter how hard he tried to push them away.

he was right. last night, when sara called to apologize again, they ended up talking for hours, rekindling the friendship they once had. she had confessed to jace that she might have feelings for someone new. she felt guilty, but he had felt surprisingly lighthearted and told her to go for it.

things with her were alright, and moving on seemed far easier than he had expected when they first broke up. and a small part of him wondered if he, too, loved but was not in love.

but the idea of moving on —of liking someone else— felt terrifying, and he lacked the advice he desperately needed.

he couldn't talk to helaena, obviously. aemond lacked any interest in anything related to romance, daeron and luke would mock him about anything and everything, and he would rather die than go to any of the adults in his life. joffrey would surprisingly be his best option, if he weren't an eight year old.

which left jace with one option, one really, really bad option.

he pulled out his phone, letting out a harsh breath as he tried to convince himself he wouldn't regret this. his finger hovered over the contact of the only person who could help him and keep a secret

don't do anything embarrassing.

what the hell does 'don't do anything embarrassing' even mean? everything he does is embarrassing to aegon!

jace took a deep breath, running his hands through his hair as he headed to his room,trying to figure out what exactly could aegon be thinking about.

his footsteps faltered when he reached the hallway, helaena's voice echoing against the walls. she said his name. were you two talking about him? did you talk about him?

he took a hesitant step forward, his body trembling and his heart hammering as he fought the urge to get closer to the door. he shouldn't eavesdrop —he knew that. but there was a gnawing voice in his head telling him to listen, to lean as close as he could, and figure out what you were saying. his fingers hovered near the doorframe, his mind racing with questions he wasn’t sure he was ready to hear answers to.

he couldn't do that. jace took a deep breath, swallowing the knot in his throat as he backed away. he couldn't spy on you to figure out how you felt— if you even felt anything.

he walked back to his room, his knuckles turning white from the pressure as he closed the door. he threw himself onto the bed, grabbed his headphones to block out any noise from helaena's room, and hid there until it was time to leave.

meanwhile, you were stuck with helaena and her latest powerpoint presentation: '10 reasons you should date jacaerys' (which she had spent all night working on instead of her actual homework), along with the following speech during the drive to school.

it was at times like these that you welcomed the fact that helaena was older. although it would be a lie if you said that her words didn't stick with you all morning, especially when the subject of the talk sat just a few desks away from you.

sharing a few classes with jace had never been something you paid much attention to, not doing more than sharing some occasional small talk. but today, the thought of his proximity gnawed at your insides, forcing you to steal glances his way every chance you got.

telling yourself it would be the last time, you turned again —only to find him already staring, offering a tiny smile. you quickly turned away, trying to ignore the warmth spreading across your face.

you were convinced that this was stupid, jace didnt deserve to be ignored just because you felt awkward every time you looked at him. despite helaena getting into your head, he was still a good friend and acted relatively normal (or as normal as he could be considering that she probably reacted the same way towards him, at least.)

shaking your head, you tried to focus back on your teacher, fighting the tension in your hands as you wrote, along with the persistent feeling of being watched —until a small piece of paper hit the back of your head.

you turned back slowly, careful not to be seen, only to catch jace's gaze once more. he smiled again, nodding towards the crumpled paper by your foot before quickly pretending to write as the teacher turned to the class.

your fingers reached for the paper, carefully unfolding it to find jace's messy handwriting scrawled over an old math equation. are you coming with us today?

turning one last time, you mouthed a 'yes' at him, smiling at the thumbs-up he gave you and, subsequently, at his face when the teacher scolded him for not paying attention.

you could do this. things were still normal between the two of you, and jace was still jace —an awkward moment wouldn’t change that. whatever had happened yesterday, it would soon be forgotten, as if it had never happened in the first place. you were sure of it.

the rest of the class passed as usual, and soon enough the bell was ringing as you gathered your things, ready to meet helaena at the cafeteria.

"hey." a warm hand rested on your elbow, and your eyes met a slightly disheveled Jace.

"hi." your gaze drifted downward to where he toyed with the zipper of his jacket. he was nervous. "is something wrong?"

"no, no. listen, i—" he hesitated, biting his lip before continuing. "i just wanted to make sure everything was cool. between us, you know? i don't know, i just feel like we've been kinda walking on eggshells around each other lately."

"oh. yeah, no, everything's okay." you sputtered, trying to reassure him. "things are fine, don't worry."

"okay, good." he gave you a smile again, that smile again, and your breath faltered.

things were not fine.

things were not fine and you couldn't do this.

you took a deep breath, your eyes darting around the room as panic settled in.

"i have to go." you spoke quickly, and ran away faster, hoping to blend into the crowd of students while searching for helaena in the multitude.

someone called your name. anxiously, you glanced back to find sara scampering towards you.

"hey. hi, sara." your voice came out shaky. god, you wished the ground would open up and swallow you.

"hi. how are you?" she asked as she started walking beside you.

"good, i'm good." bad. terrible. awful. "how are you?"

"i'm good. look, i wanted to thank you again for last night. It felt good to finally talk to someone." she smiled, bumping your shoulder with her own. "i'm glad we're friends now."

"yeah, me too." you had to fight back a grimace. sara was great, she really was, but every time you looked at her, you could almost see jace and his goddamned smile, and the guilt was slowly driving you insane.

how do you tell your new friend that you had a maybe-romantic, maybe-not moment with her ex-boyfriend and now people are starting to think something is going on between you two?

the sight of helaena standing by her biology class entrance felt, quite literally, like a miracle. she waved her arms over her head to get your attention, and sara distractedly grabbed your hand, pulling you along as she sprinted towards her.

they decided to spend the free period in the library, and at first, you hoped the towering shelves of books would shield you from everyone. you were lost —too distracted to fully follow the conversation and too afraid to join, dreading any mention of last night.

but as the minutes passed without helaena bringing anything up, your heartbeat slowed, allowing you to actually listen. they were chatting about a singer sara liked, something far removed from exes and nephews, and a sense of calm finally settled over you.

that was, at least, until sara's eyes widened, fixed on something behind you. you turned, only to find the very person you had been hoping to hide from for the rest of the day.

"jace!" sara smiled, getting up to hug him, and dread filled your chest.

turning slowly, you found him standing just behind you, so close that you could feel the faint heat radiating from his presence, much closer than you had expected.

jace offered her a smile, then one to helaena, and finally, he looked at you.

he didn't really know what to do. things had been awkward last night, and then this morning, and then you said things were fine, but you ran away right after. he thought he might be reading too much into it, but still couldn’t help but feel that things were far more complicated than he had hoped.

swallowing the knot in his throat, he offered you what he hoped wasn't a grimace, trying to suppress his nervousness. it felt like time had stopped, and he couldn't look away, far too focused on the way your eyes sparkled and how the sun gleamed over your skin.

slowly, a real smile began to form on his face, and he shyly murmured a greeting before clearing his throat and sitting in the empty chair beside you.

sara glanced between the two of you, a small, confused frown forming between her brows when she noticed you wouldn't make eye contact with anyone.

her gaze shifted to helaena, who watched the two of you with an excited smile. sara wondered what was going on. she felt the urge to ask but didn't want to make you any more uncomfortable than you already looked, so she chose to stay quiet, at least for now.

wanting to break the silence that hung over the table, she drummed her hands against the surface in a random rhythm before turning to jace. “so, are you excited for the next game?”

“what? oh, yeah. coach is making us train hard,” he said distractedly before looking at you. “you're coming, right?”

the way he stared at you, coupled with the feeling of sara's eyes on you, made your stomach churn. you had to stand up abruptly, gathering your things, certain you were about to vomit.

“maybe. i have to go. bye, guys.”

they all stared at you, confused, as you walked away. jace had thought you left class quickly before, but now he felt like you were running away, and an awful ache settled in his chest. he couldn't help but wonder if his presence had been what drove you away.

"is she okay?" he asked, his gaze fixed on the entrance of the library.

"maybe she got uncomfortable when you brought up the game," helaena answered quietly, playing with her sleeves.

"fuck, you're probably right. i didn't think about that." his gaze shifted from the door to sara's guilty face.

"think about what? what are you talking about?"

"the next game is against ben's school," his aunt said, giving him a pointed look, as if to tell him he should know the turmoil that would bring.

"she's probably dreading seeing him. i know i would, after a breakup like that," sara winced as she spoke .

"you know about that?" helaena turned to her with wide eyes.

"pretty much the entire school knows about it, hel. it wasn't necessarily the private kind."

"why, what happened?" jace knew you had broken up with your boyfriend at the beginning of the year when he changed schools. he remembered helaena bringing you home even more than usual, alicent cooking all of your favorite meals and drying your tears. still, in his mind, he had always assumed the breakup had been amicable. clearly, it hadn't been, and he now realized he might have been the only one unaware of that.

sara hesitated, biting her cheek as she frowned.

"i don't think you should hear it from someone else, but I can tell you the guy's a complete asshole. i doubt anyone would be mad if the team went a bit rough on him."

"i'll keep that in mind," he nodded. the ringing bell interrupted them, cutting the conversation short, and they said their goodbyes before going their separate ways.

the conversation lingered in his mind all day. he only snapped out of his thoughts whenever he caught a glimpse of you —only for you to disappear every time he tried to get closer, either making an excuse to leave or simply walking away before he could reach you.

even now, hours later, he was too frustrated to focus on training. the coach had given them a break (jace knew it was mostly so he could get his shit together, even if nothing was said.). he kept biting his lip, tangling his fingers in the undone laces of his skates as his gaze flickered repeatedly to his bag.

"dude, what was that out there?" cregan walked into the locker room and headed straight for him, a concerned frown on his face as he sat down beside him.

jace ignored the question entirely. instead of giving him an answer, he reached into his bag, pulled out his phone, and stared at the dark screen before finally turning to his friend.

"do you think it would be stupid if i looked up a girl's ex?" jace asked nervously.

"already planning on moving on from my sister, velaryon?" cregan nudged his shoulder.

jace's eyes widened, panic flashing across his face. "no, that's not it, i—" he sputtered, scrambling to explain in fear of having pissed him off.

"calm down, i'm just teasing you." cregan snickered at first, but the worried look on his friend's face made him turn serious almost immediately. "jace, seriously, it's fine. you two broke up a while ago, you're allowed to have feelings after that. besides, you're the one that got dumped, man. it's not like you broke her heart or anything."

"so i've been told," jace whispered to himself annoyedly, remembering luke's comments from that morning.

"so, who are we stalking?" cregan wanted to tease him more, maybe ask who the lucky girl was, but he knew jace would only tell him when he was ready. and this didn’t seem like the moment.

jace groaned, opening instagram and typing the dreadful name into the search bar.

"shit, man. is that benji?" cregan pulled the phone closer, shielding the screen with his hand to block the glare from the lights. "haven't heard about him since he left."

"yeah, me neither," he answered absentmindedly.

cregan seemed about to speak, but was interrupted by the coach calling him over, leaving jace to scroll through gym photos and game videos.

so far, he had learned three things. one, ben seemed to have a new girlfriend. two, he played center now. and three, he still had old pictures of you posted.

the last one bothered him more than it probably should.

there was one specific picture he particularly hated —from a few months after you met helaena, and when he had a crush on you— you were cuddled into benji's arms, pressing a kiss to his bicep, with a caption that read something stupid like, gotta keep these muscles in shape for my girl.

it irked him. not only were you not his girl anymore, but benji was also dating someone else now.

the mature part of him recognized that, as sara had said, benji was an asshole, and told him to move on.

the immature part of him, on the other hand, was feeling jealous —and about to do something pretty stupid.

he considered talking to aegon at first, before remembering he had skipped training. jace told himself this was an innocent, harmless thing with no ulterior motives. before he could change his mind, he reposted the story in which cregan had tagged him earlier.

and if you happened to see it and noticed that he clearly had much nicer arms than ben, well, that would have nothing to do with him.

his phone dinged shortly after.

jace groaned again, lowering his face until it hit his palms, fingers pressing against his eyes so hard he could see spots.

he let out a deep sigh as he stood, walking up to aemond with a frown.

"you know, i'm not fond of being spied on," he said, leaning against a locker with his arms crossed.

"there is no spying to do, nephew. you're loud," aemond replied, indifferent. "pettiness doesn't suit you."

"i wasn't being petty," jace attempted to defend himself, but it was clear from his uncle's expression that he didn't believe him at all.

"of course not," aemond replied in his usual sarcastic, bored tone before walking away.

jace let out a harsh exhale, checking his phone for any new messages before following him back into the rink, welcoming the cold against his warm skin.

you, on the other hand, were currently bundled up in your blanket, leaning against the headboard of your bed as 'confessions of a shopaholic' played on your tv.

your gaze drifted to the clock on your nightstand, dreading how quickly time passed as it inched closer to seven. with a sigh, you paused the movie, knowing it was time to start getting ready.

after a quick shower, you put on some light makeup and searched your room for the warmest tights and shirt you could find, layering them under your jeans before grabbing a jacket and a pair of gloves. soon after, your phone buzzed with a text from helaena, telling you to wait outside.

deciding to sit on the front steps while you waited, you pulled your phone from your pocket, opening instagram and mindlessly scrolling through friends' stories to pass the time. nothing out of the ordinary —floris had posted a short video of her cat sleeping on her lap, and your cousin had shared a photo of herself and her sister at a restaurant.

a car passed by, and you lifted your head to check if it was your friend. realizing it wasn't her, you looked back down —just in time to see jace's latest story.

your eyes widened as they followed the vein running along his arm, your thumb instinctively pressing against the screen to hold the story in place before it could disappear. you were apparently too distracted, because you had completely missed the car currently parked in front of you.

it wasn't until you felt a slight touch on your shoulder that you let out a small shriek and looked up to find helaena, her face almost fully covered by a big, fuzzy blue jacket.

her eyes moved between you and your phone screen, a teasing smile forming on her face. "were you looking at what jace posted?"

"what? no," you said, getting up and hurriedly walking past her, trying to ignore the sound of her laugh as you got into the car and greeted her family.

you spent the entire drive trying to keep helaena quiet, lightly smacking her arm whenever she started talking about jace.

"what's up with you two?" alicent asked from the passenger seat, turning to give you an odd look.

"nothing!" your voice came out too loud for the silence in the car, making you grimace. you cleared your throat quickly, scrambling for a distraction. "uh, is everyone else meeting us there?"

alicent simply nodded, an amused smile playing on her lips as she glanced between you and helaena.

the rest of the drive had been thankfully quiet, if a bit awkward, and soon enough, you were scrambling out of the car, unaware of the looks otto, alicent, and daeron were giving you.

the ice rink was buzzing with people, and the stalls around it were adorned with twinkling lights, filled with people selling and buying food and handmade crafts. a familiar laughter blended with the background music and the sound of skates gliding across the ice, and you followed the noise, only to see rhaena, wobbling and clinging to her father while baela skated gracefully, teasing circles around them.

criston headed your way, followed by aegon and aemond. they quickly welcomed everyone before leading us near the stalls, where everyone else sat at a big table.

jace was, thankfully, nowhere to be seen. a part of you felt guilty for the relief his absence gave you, but the thought of facing him, especially with everyone watching, made your stomach twist. so, after a quick greeting, you grabbed helaena and pulled her away under the excuse of taking a walk.

"i don't get why you don't wanna see him." helaena had at least waited until you were far from her family, but her curiosity finally got the best of her. "he's a lot happier now that he likes you, and you blush every time you see him, so you clearly like him too!"

"i don't like him." you frowned at her, hiding your face against the collar your jacket.

"yes, you do!" helaena was used to having a hard time understanding people, but you? she understood you like nobody else, and she was sure she was right.

"hel, for the last time, nothing is going to happen between us." you were trying not to be too harsh with her, but anything relationship-related brought an uncomfortable feeling to your chest that you would rather ignore.

"is it because of ben?" helaena's voice was quiet, cautious. "i get it, what he did sucks, but jace wouldn't do that. he's nice."

"yeah, well, ben used to be nice too. and how did that end?" you caught yourself mid-sentence —lashing out at helaena wasn't fair. the sight of her reaching to cover her ears made you feel worse than anything that had happened today.

letting out a tired exhale, you reached for her, pulling her into a side hug when she allowed you to touch her. "i'm sorry, i didn't mean to be so loud. and i know jace wouldn't do that to me, i just... to be honest? i don't think i'm ready to date anyone yet."

"yeah, i get that." she nodded against your shoulder before lifting her head to look at you. "but when you are, he's a good choice."

she shot you a cheeky smile and walked away, leaving you standing there, stunned.

"that's not gonna happen!" you ran after her, both of you laughing as you caught up.

"yes, it will," she sing-songed teasingly. "i know it. i already dreamed your entire wedding."

"please stop talking."

she laughed loudly at your grimace before her expression grew serious, eyes widening.

"oh my god!" helaena paused in the middle of the trail and squealed. it took you a moment to stop, and you had to take a few steps back, only to find her crouched in front of a tree.

"what? what's wrong?— shit!" you tripped as you hurried back to her, carefully walking the rest of the way to make sure you didn't step on your shoelaces again.

"there's a frog."

"what do you mean there's a frog? it's the middle of winter." you crouched behind her to tie your shoes properly, and she turned to show you her hands.

between her hands sat a small, almost-brown frog. "i think it's hurt. maybe it can't move."

you could see helaena's hands start to tremble, her brows furrowing in concern.

"don't worry, we'll take care of it."

"it's gonna freeze." helaena whined.

"so we'll get it somewhere warm together, just wait a second," you said, frustrated as you fumbled with your shoelaces, struggling to grasp them with your gloves on.

she stayed silent for a moment, looking behind you before blurting out, "i'm sorry but you'll thank me one day."

"what?" you heard quick footsteps and looked back up, just in time to see her running away.

she ignored you when you called after her, leaving you to huff in frustration as you finished tying your shoelaces.

"hey, i've been looking for you." your hands stilled for a second as you recognized jace's voice. suddenly, helaena's eagerness to leave you behind made perfect sense. you stood up slowly, already planning to complain about her betrayal, before turning to face him.

"uh, hi," you answered quietly, shoving your hands into your pockets and staring at the snow slowly piling over your shoes.

"hi." he sighed the word as he stared at you, and an awkward silence took over. you wouldn’t look at him, too busy staring at the ground. jace bit his cheek before speaking again.

"so, i was wondering if you wanna..." he trailed off, raising his arm to gesture toward the rink behind him with his thumb.

"oh." you froze, wondering what to do, when the a woman entering the bathroom caught your attention. "actually, can you wait a minute? i just need to go to the bathroom real quick." without waiting for him to answer, you walked past him and headed to the bathroom stalls.

silver hair and smoke caught your attention as you searched for a familiar face. you looked back to make sure jace couldn't see you, then veered towards the bench where aegon was sitting.

reaching behind him, you leaned against the backrest, calling his name as you fought the urge to run back to the bathroom and lock yourself inside.

"aegon." he was far too focused on his phone, forcing you to whisper as loudly as you could without attracting attention. "aegon!"

"jesus!" he quickly moved his arm away, as if he didn't want to touch whatever had just scared him. "the fuck you want?"

"i need your help."

you were clearly desperate, considering how much you looked around, and the fact that you had gone to him, of all people, for help.

"i'm busy." he lifted his phone slightly, just enough for you to see the screen before going back to scrolling.

"will you listen!" the desperation in your tone was, quite frankly, music to his ears. the day had been pretty boring so far, he was out of weed, and he needed some entertainment. "helaena just abandoned me for a frog, i can't find anyone else, and jace is trying to get me to go skate with him!"

"so go skate." he shrugged before turning his attention back to his phone.

"i can't do that!" aegon rolled his eyes. you sounded so scandalized, anyone would've thought he told you to shoot someone. " that thing is full of couples!"

you pointed behind you and his gaze followed your finger, landing on the rink, which was indeed filled with sickeningly sweet couples and happy families.

were you exaggerating? probably, yes. but at this point, you were sure you would lose your mind if you had to spend one more second alone with jace

"okay, so tell him you don't know how to skate." aegon had to fight the grin off his face. he didn't really have an elaborate plan —maybe getting everyone to leave the two of you alone all night or making you sit cramped next to each other on the drive back— but this? this was an opportunity he couldn't let pass. "there. problem solved."

"yeah, and how do i explain the past five hundred times i came here to skate with you?"

"please. you and helaena sneak off to be by yourselves all the time, he won't know." he stood and took a final drag of his cigarette before putting it out and covering the smile he couldn't quite suppress with his hand. then, he cleared his throat, forcing a bored expression. "well, i'm starving, i'll go get some food. good luck, though."

you looked up to the darkening sky, squinting to see the first few stars appearing as you groaned, before walking back to jace.

"hey... i'm back." you attempted to sound normal, excited even, but pretty much anyone who heard you would be able to tell how much you wanted to disappear. anyone but jace, at least.

he just stood there, smiling at you in that way, his eyes sparkling as much as the lights hanging around you.

"so, you wanna go skate?" he nodded towards the rink.

"uh..." your eyes darted around, searching for someone —anyone— who could help you escape this. with no one in sight, panic started to take over, and you blurted out the one thing you'd thought would be extremely stupid to say. "i don't know how to skate, actually!"

"oh." you didn't know how to skate? he'd seen you skate a million times! jace didn't know what to do. he looked around, his cheeks expanding as he exhaled, trying to figure out a different way to spend time with you. "well, we could—"

"helaena!" you cut him off with a sudden yell, grabbing his arms and pulling him to the side.

"helaena?" jace asked incredulously, opening his mouth to talk again, before being interrupted once more.

"yes, helaena. i need to talk to her." you started backing away, turning to speak as you went. "sorry, i have to go. sorry."

you left quickly, glancing back to assure him you’d be right back. he wasn't sure he believed you.

jace stood where you left him, frozen as people brushed past him, lightly swaying from the force. he frowned, following you with his eyes as far as he could before you disappeared, then started walking in the opposite direction.

he didn’t know where he was going, all he could think about was you. were things between you really that bad? why did you keep avoiding him?

he turned when he heard someone calling his name, catching a glimpse of aegon by one of the food stalls, and approached him, ready to vent to him and, surprisingly, ask him for advice again.

"so, how are things going between you two?" aegon asked, though he didn’t seem particularly interested, too busy struggling to open his bag of chips.

jace sighed, snatching the bag from his hands, tearing it open, and shoving it back at him. "like shit."

aegon barely reacted, popping a chip into his mouth. "why? i thought you were getting some alone time." he waggled his eyebrows and stuffed his mouth.

he walked towards a bench and jace followed after him, sulking as he dropped himself in the seat.

"this is useless, she keeps avoiding me."

"nah, mate. she's just shy, i'm telling you." aegon spoke as he chewed while throwing himself by his side, crumbs falling on his lap.

"she just told me she doesn't know how to skate, aegon." jace complained. she hated him, he was sure. "she's been coming here with us for the past two years. clarly she doesn't want me to be near her."

aegon shook his head, placing an arm around him as an amused smile took over his lips.

"see, this is where you're wrong, nephew. this is a classic chick tactic—"

"please stop saying chick." jace quickly pulled away, scolding him as he frowned. aegon just rolled his eyes and raised his hands in defeat.

"yeah fine, whatever. my point is, she's clearly saying that so you'll offer to 'teach her'. she's doing you a favor, man. setting the mood for, like, romance, and shit."

"you really think that?" jace sat up straighter, already feeling better. the thought of you wanting anything romantic with him brought a nice warmth to his chest.

"yeah, chicks love to play hard to get. trust me." aegon smirked and patted his back.

"stop saying chick."

"whatever. just go get a new girlfriend and leave me alone." aegon pushed him to his feet and waved him off.

"screw you." jace yelled while walking away.

"no, screw her!" aegon yelled back teasingly. despite his annoyance, jace was too busy dealing with the way his heart somersaulted at the idea of you being his girlfriend, so he simply smiled and raised his middle finger towards him without turning back.

if what you wanted was romance, he would be sure to give you exactly that.

taglist: @glennussy. (thanks for being the first person in the taglist queen🙌💖)

[pepperonidk]

iii. tell me your favorite love song || to.you

↳ "i wanna sing it with you''

Pairing: Jeon Wonwoox gn!Reader Summary: Council meeting! It's time for you to reminisce on failed dates and first confessions with Seungkwan, Soonyoung, Hansol, and Chan! Warnings: cursing, jeonghan slander (i'm so sorry, it's for the plot) Songs Mentioned: completely - jaehyun

A/N:  This is a bit of a filler episode, sorry y'all. Hope everyone is enjoying their december! It's my favorite time of the year. The next two parts are pretty holiday vibe heavy.

let me know if you'd like to be tagged! comments and rb's are appreciated :)

⏮ previous track || back to playlist || next track ⏭ 

“Did you… Did you write that yourself?”

The last note from the piano seemed to echo through the room for a while before Wonwoo finally turned to look at you.

“Yeah,” he answered quietly. “Just finished it last night actually.” Wonwoo looked down at the piano keys as his fingers ghosted over them, touching them with enough pressure to push down but not make a sound. “What did you think of it?” he asked. He seemed more vulnerable than you had seen him before, like you were seeing him in a way he wasn’t even used to seeing himself.

“It’s really good,” you answered. You weren’t really sure what else to say. It was good, it felt personal, like something more than just a catchy song. He had used your words, that had to mean something, but you weren’t sure what. “Was that part about the coffee–”

“From you?” Wonwoo interrupted. Although he was looking away from you, you could see his ears turn pink. “Yeah, it was. I’m glad you noticed.”

You felt something flutter away at your chest. “I’m glad I could help you out,” you replied. If he wasn’t going to say anything more than that, then you would just take it for what it was. Wonwoo nodded but didn’t reply. “I’m really flattered that I got to hear it first.”

Wonwoo finally looked up at you. “Of course,” his head tilted. “Who else would I play it for?” As if it was the most obvious thing. 

You’re sure your eyes widened in surprise and your cheeks definitely went pink, because almost immediately, Wonwoo coughed and added, “You helped me write it so obviously you’d hear it first.” Right. That’s all. He was just offering something in return.

“Oh,” you began. Not sure if the sigh that escaped your lips was relief or disappointment. “Well if you ever need to write another song, you know where to find me. Though maybe I should start charging.” You hoped your tone was as light and playful as you intended it to be.

Wonwoo let out a soft chuckle as he shook his head. Good. “Name your price.” 

Before you could add on, his phone buzzed against the wood of the piano and he reached out to check it. His fingertips flexed as they wrapped around it.

“It’s Mingyu,” he explained. “We have band practice in 20...” He pocketed his phone before turning back to you with an apologetic smile. “I’ll see you around?”

His eyes seemed to twinkle under the fluorescents of the practice room and you felt your heart thud against your chest. He smiled. “See you around.”

Wonwoo left right after that, and you found yourself stuck in the room thinking about his song. Your fingers pressed against some of the keys that you remember him playing, as if looking for a code to see what he was thinking. It felt… electric, to have something, not quite a secret, between the two of you. You couldn’t help but imagine him singing it on stage, no one else knowing that you had wormed your way into the lyrics of his song. 

You found yourself wishing that you could hear him sing your song — the song about yo– the song he wrote that just so happened to include your words and seemed to describe exactly how you were feeling about him – again. Maybe he’d say it was for you.

Maybe he’d say it was how he felt about you too.

Later that night, you found yourself at Seungkwan, Chan, and Hansol’s place, laying on their sofa. You had sent out a text to your group chat, in desperate need of more minds on the case. Seungkwan went out to pick up a pizza and Chan and Hansol stayed behind with you. A knock sounded on the door and Chan stood up to answer the door. You heard him groan immediately as it swung open.

“Why the hell are you here?” Chan spoke. It was immediately obvious from his lack of enthusiasm that he was not speaking to Seungkwan.

You heard Seungkwan’s voice reply easily. “Relax, Chan.” He sighed. “I heard this was a council meeting,” he explained nonchalantly as he walked in with two boxes of pizza and a smug looking Soonyoung behind him. “I saw Soonyoung on my way here and figured he could be helpful.” The two of them smiled and waved as they walked into the living room and set the pizzas down on the coffee table.

“I don’t let strays into my place, Seungkwan,” Chan huffed as he shut the door behind him, letting Soonyoung into his place anyway.

Seungkwan rolled his eyes and you chuckled as he chastised Chan. “Our place,” he corrected. 

“And besides,” Hansol chimed in. “Just last week you pulled over in the parking garage and caused a 15 minute traffic jam because you stopped to pick up a lost cat.”

Chan’s cheeks reddened as he relented. Pouty as he was, he couldn’t really argue with his roommates. Walking over, he lifted your legs as he sat down next to her before letting you rest them in his lap. “You didn’t need to announce it,” he whined as Hansol offered him a slice of pizza.

“Anyway,” Seungkwan chuckled, moving to sit beside Soonyoung against the coffee table and facing the three of you. “We haven’t called a council meeting like this since Chan went through his emo phase.” Seungkwan looked over at Chan as he explained.

“You would have an emo phase,” Soonyoung sneered at Chan.

“You probably had one too, dickhead.” Chan countered.

“Yeah, if you count Justin Bieber as emo,” Soonyoung rolled his eyes.

“Soonyoung…” Seungkwan began softly. “That’s… that’s not any better.” Hansol reached over and patted his shoulder as Soonyoung looked away in embarrassment. Everyone laughed lightheartedly at that, even Soonyoung… eventually.

“Okay,” you began, drawing out the last syllable. “Now that we’ve determined that Chan and Soonyoung are both dorks, we can get to the problem at hand.”

“Hey!” Chan and Soonyoung both shouted in offense. 

You sat up and reached for a slice of pizza before you continued. You weren’t particularly sure of how to approach the subject, but you also knew that after five seconds of silence, Seungkwan would begin prodding at you. Maybe it was like ripping off a bandaid?

“I think Wonwoo likes me.”

The silence was deafening. You weren’t really sure what to expect, but silence from everyone, especially Seungkwan, was not it. Hansol, definitely. Chan, maybe, he sometimes liked to think before he responded. Soonyoung, from what you’d come to know, tended to hold off on offering advice until he heard others’ perspectives. Seungkwan, however, was always one to speak whatever was in his mind, to refine his thoughts aloud.

“Did you all hear me? I said–”

“No, we heard you the first time,” Chan said, still staring at you with wide eyes. “Wonwoo? Like 6’0” lead singer of No Name that looks like he wants to beat my ass every 10 minutes, Wonwoo?”

You nodded back. Looking around the room, everyone seemed to be in a similar state of shock. Hansol was resting his chin on a closed fist and his eyes were full of intrigue. Seungkwan had a brow raised quizzingly, and Soonyoung’s mouth was wide open until something settled in his brain and his lips pressed together in a smirk.

“I totally called it,” Soonyoung beamed. “Didn’t I tell you he was singing right at you that one night?” 

You recalled Soonyoung’s words from the first Halloween party you saw Wonwoo at and you nodded. Wonwoo did seem to have his eye on you that time.

“Nope, no, no,” Chan stood up. Here he goes, you thought to yourself. You sat up as well.“Wonwoo doesn’t sing to people, he just sings and then glares from the stage. He glares at everyone.”

Chan also had a point. You’d known Wonwoo to be exceptionally grouchy, and to make no exceptions for who he glares at. Maybe he was glaring at you for dancing with Soonyoung, who he didn’t seem too fond of.

“What makes you think he likes you?” Seungkwan asked curiously.

“I… He wrote a song about me?” you offered sheepishly as Chan’s eyes somehow got wider.

“He what?” Everyone asked in unison.

“I–” you stammered. “Well he never said it was about me, but he did use my line.”

Chan was pacing around the room now. “What was the line he used?”

“Something about the first coffee shop run in autumn.”

Recognition lit up in his eyes as you mentioned the lyric and he paused his movements. “He also used a line from Joshua in that song,” Chan thought aloud. “And I think he had a line about the drums that Mingyu had said about Seungcheol.”

Oh, you thought to yourself. You couldn’t help but feel… disappointed. Chan’s words were sobering, and you felt yourself shrink. It was true, you had only met him a handful of times. Why would he write about you? Hansol seemed to sense your deflating mood because he leaned over to wrap an arm around you. You smiled at him in return. 

Upon noticing your mood, Chan let out a sigh. He sat back down beside you and when he spoke again, his voice was softer. “Look, it’s not that I don’t want him to like you,” he began. “It’s just that… well, Wonwoo’s the most emotionally unavailable guy I know. I’ve never so much as heard him say the word ‘happy’ outside of a song. I just don’t want you to build him up in your head just to get hurt by reality.” He looked at you knowingly.

Seungkwan nodded along. “Chan’s right,” he agreed. “Being in love with the idea of someone is as good as handing your heart over to be broken. You shouldn’t have to put yourself through that again.” 

Again.

You remember that night freshman year that you were supposed to go on a date with a guy named Jeonghan.

Jeonghan had come up to where you and Chan were sitting and having lunch out on the quad. It was a breezy spring morning and you recall the way Jeonghan’s hair blew across his face as he approached the two of you with an easy smile. You gave Chan a ‘do you know this guy?’ look as he shook his head no.

“Hey,” he had said to you, pointedly ignoring Chan. 

“Hey…” you answered politely but cautiously as you looked over at Chan. Chan was eyeing him suspiciously.

“I just wanted to let you know how good you look in this light,” he spoke again with a charming smile and his hand extended out for a handshake. “I’m Jeonghan.” You blushed at him and slipped your hand in his as you introduced yourself. Chan’s eyes sharpened into a dangerous glare when Jeonghan twisted your hand in his and brushed his lips against your knuckles. He coughed and finally drew the stranger’s attention to him. 

“I’m Chan,” he said and reached his hand out, knuckles up, to mock Jeonghan.

Jeonghan, unbothered, simply laughed and nodded his head. His eyes fixed into a cold stare that contrasted his smile. “Hey man.” 

Jeonghan reached over for one of the napkins that sat between you and Chan and pulled out of a pen and wrote down his number. “Text me?” And when you nodded, he walked away, back to his group of friends who jovially patted him on the back at his return.

“That guy is an absolute creep,” Chan breathed out, not bothering to wait for him to be completely out of earshot.

“Chan…” you warned. “He seemed nice, and he was kind of cute.” You pulled out your phone.

“He looks like half the guys on this campus,” Chan rolled his eyes as he looked at the number written on your napkin. “Don’t text him.”

“Too late,” you replied, as you hit send on a message.

Once Hansol and Seungkwan found out about it, they were on Chan’s side. 

Jeonghan had asked you out on a date immediately upon seeing your message and that Friday night, Seungkwan and Chan had come over to your dorm. You were in the middle of getting ready, still trying to settle on an outfit and the two of them were sitting on your twin bed watching you with interest. 

Hansol stood by you at your wardrobe, helping you pick and choose tops for your outfit while Seungkwan deeply sighed.

“Are you sure we can’t convince you to not go?” Hansol prodded even as he handed you another piece. You held it against your body to check it in your reflection before shaking your head and handing it back to him.

“Guys,” you pleaded. “I really like him. I don’t see what the issue is.”

You watched Chan scoff and make eye contact with you in the mirror. His bright eyes watching yours carefully. “I can give you a list. Alphabetized even.”

You turned to glare at him. “Bite me, Chan.” Jeonghan had joined you and Chan and Seungkwan for lunch the next afternoon with a fully cooked meal for you and a bouquet of flowers, and you and Chan had been arguing about him since then. Even Seungkwan was skeptical of him and how he seemed to love-bomb you, as he called it, right after meeting you. “It’s nice to be with a guy that’s so direct about how he feels about me.”

“That’s the problem,” Seungkwan spoke up. “Isn’t he a little too interested? The flowers, coming to your classes with breakfast, like that’s nice, but you’ve known him for all of two days. He hasn’t even asked about your major.”

You chewed your lip. You could argue with Chan all day long, but Seungkwan had always been able to get you to see reason, even if you ultimately chose to ignore it. Which you did. There was only 15 minutes left before the time Jeonghan said he’d pick you up, and you decided you were too far in to back out on him now.

“Seungkwan’s right,” Hansol said. “And he’s been a shit texter, hasn’t he?”

“Okay, but not everyone is a good texter,” you argued. You grabbed one last outfit option and walked into the bathroom to change. “Sol, you barely send five words in a single text on a good day.” You walked back out after changing and watched as the three gave you a reluctant thumbs up.

You settled onto your bed and Hansol sat beside you and fussed with the collar of your top. “Shouldn’t that jackass be here soon?” Chan sighed.

“Yeah,” you replied. “He said 7, so five more minutes.”

At 7 p.m., Jeonghan was nowhere to be found.

At 7:15 p.m. he hadn’t answered any of your texts.

At 7:38 p.m. you got a call from Jeonghan. Who butt-dialed you. From the club. With his friends who congratulated him on getting a girl to fall for him in a record-breaking five days.

At 7:45 you were crying into your pillow.

At 8 p.m. Chan said, “A guy who likes you isn’t going to see you as a challenge to be won.”

“Woah woah woah,” Soonyoung chimed in. “How do you know that he’s emotionally unavailable?”

Soonyoung’s voice brought you back to the situation at hand.

You’re not quite sure why you were suddenly feeling defensive. Seungkwan and Chan had only ever looked out for your best interests, especially after that incident with Jeonghan. But when you remember how shy Wonwoo got after he finished playing, and how open he was with you the night before, a part of you desperately wanted them to be wrong.

“Have you met him?” Hansol chuckled. “That man is the definition of ‘if looks could kill.’ He only looks nice when he’s on stage.”

“Well he can’t be all bad if he can write songs that are so… personal” Soonyoung continued to protest. Seungkwan was right to bring him. His presence was refreshing. 

“You somehow manage to be passing psych when you’re an absolute dumbass,” Chan countered. Seungkwan swatted at him and he immediately folded. “Sorry. Instinct. What I meant to say was that Wonwoo holds his cards close to his chest, not necessarily that he doesn’t have feelings.”

“My question still stands,” Soonyoung replied. “How can you write songs like that and be emotionally unavailable?”

Chan looked at him with frustration. “It’s not that hard,” he retorted.

Again, Seungkwan swatted at his arm and shot him a glare. “Show some sympathy, dumbass.”

Chan corrected himself. “I mean I imagine it’s not that hard.”

Soonyoung rolled his eyes before continuing. “No offense dude,” he began as Chan scowled at him. “But you are the biggest loverboy I’ve ever met. It’s pretty obvious which songs you had a hand in writing because they’re so very clearly written by a simp.” 

“First of all, how would you know?” Chan accused. “And second of all… which songs do you think are mine?” he blushed as Soonyoung smirked. He was a lot more perceptive than he let on.

Soonyoung cleared his throat as he began to sing… croak, more like. 

“Oh, show me a map of your soul Every second from now I’m gonna love you completely.”

Soonyoung only stopped when Chan lobbed a pillow at his face, but it didn’t stop him from laughing. That was the song you’d danced with Soonyoung to the first night. 

He was right. 

Chan wrote that song when the four of you were still in high school, around your sophomore year. He was really into one girl… oh, her name slipped your mind now. It was the night of the winter formal and the four of you had spent weeks coming up with the perfect plan for him to confess to her and Chan was more nervous than you’d ever seen him.

“Are you guys sure I have to tell her?” Chan had sweat dripping down his forehead even as you stood on the balcony of the ballroom in the middle of December. He had already pulled his coat off, left only in his white button up and red tie, both of which he’d undone a bit to try to cool himself off.

“Yes!” you and Seungkwan both cried out.

“But what if she hates me after this?”

“Do you know how stupid you sound right now?” Hansol scoffed at him, your breath coming out in puffs in front of you.

“But–”

“No buts, Chan,” Seungkwan chastised. “Just man up and tell her how you feel, she deserves to know.”

“And you both deserve to be happy,” you added. “She’s going to love this.”

Chan, with a nod of determination, reached for his guitar case and shook his fingers out, trying to warm them up. Seungkwan gave you a quick nod and you were thankful to be able to get out of the cold.

You walked back into the ballroom to find the mystery girl already wearing a coat. The dancing was still in full swing and the band that the school had hired was playing some slow jazz standards. Under the glow of the warm lights, you could see your hands regaining color after having to hype your nervous friend up for over 20 minutes in the cold. She smiled when she saw you approach. 

“Headed somewhere?” Hansol had asked her casually.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “I couldn’t find Chan, so I thought I’d go out to the balcony for a breather.”

Perfect. You smiled sweetly at her as she raised an eyebrow. She knew something was up, but she was either too nice to say anything, or already knew exactly what Chan was planning. “Oh? I’ll walk you out.”

You and Hansol slipped your arms into hers and you reached for your phone with your other hand, shooting Seungkwan a text, telling him to clear out. He found the three of you just as you reached the french doors. His cheeks were pale with a bright spot of red that stretched across his cheeks and his hair was disheveled from the wind.

“Oh hey,” Seungkwan said casually. He pulled you and Hansol away from the girl as she looked at the two of you with confusion. “Sorry, we just have to, uh, discuss some things. But the balcony’s free.”

“Thanks…” she said skeptically. The three of you watched as she finally walked out of eyesight before Seungkwan grabbed you by the wrist and dragged you upstairs to another balcony. 

“Seungkwan, you suck at bluffing,” you chuckled at him as he rolled his eyes.

Once you were all settled, the three of you headed towards the railing. You could hear Chan’s voice crack as he spoke, “I wrote a song for you.” Seungkwan looked at you curiously as you reached for the tie of your coat and began to wrap it around your phone.

“What the hell are you doing?” Seungkwan whisper-shouted to you. He made no moves to stop you. 

“He’ll want a video of this… and if it blows up in his face, it’ll be great blackmail” you explained matter-of-factly. “Now you two hand me your ties, it’s not long enough.”

With a roll of his eyes, he obeyed and you knotted the two ties together. Hansol chuckled and handed his over without complaint, adding it to the chain. He made sure the phone was secure and hit record before leaning over the balcony to dangle your phone over the edge. The three of you listened in awe as you listened to Chan sing. 

It wasn’t the first time you’d heard him play the guitar, but it was the first time you’d heard his voice. You didn’t think he had it in him to carry a tune, honestly, but he did surprisingly well. The girl ended up rejecting him, unfortunately, but it didn’t stop Chan from writing songs about whatever girl he fell in love with each month.

Soonyoung’s voice snapped you out of your memories. “Was I right?” he questioned smugly.

Chan blushed and turned away with a huff. “Whatever.”

“See?” Soonyoung raised an eyebrow at you as he continued. “All I’m saying is that maybe that song was about you, and maybe he only knows how to express his feelings through music. I don’t think it’s a reach.” Soonyoung put his hands up in defense as he finished his statement.

“Well look,” Seungkwan conceded. “Soonyoung has a point. Some people are better at expressing themselves in other ways, like some people are acts of service people.” He pointed over at you. “Like how you make sure Chan and Soonyoung always have class notes when they need it.”

He pointed at himself. “Words of affirmation,” he explained. “I like to tell people directly when they mean something to me.” 

Finally at Soonyoung and Hansol. “Quality time.” Soonyoung scoffed as he wondered how Seungkwan read him so easily. Seungkwan focused his attention on Soonyoung as he explained. “You don’t have to hang out with us if you don’t want to, but you’re here.”

“Whatever,” Soonyoung mumbled, but his cheeks turned pink anyway. Soonyoung was perceptive, but Seungkwan could read any person and a situation upside down and backwards.

“Well how does that help me?” you asked. “We can speculate about Wonwoo’s feelings all day long… but I’d like to have a concrete answer.”

Seungkwan’s eyes lit up as he devised a plan.

“Chan, what did you say your psych project was again?”

“To spend time with… oh no,” Chan trailed off as he watched the all too familiar mischievous glint in Seungkwan’s eyes. He sat up straighter. “Kwan, don’t include me in your plans.” “What?” Soonyoung asked. “What are you planning?”

“Well, if you and Wonwoo just so happen to do things together, and Soonyoung and Chan just so happen to be there too,” Seungkwan explained with a smug smile. “Then you can have them keep track of whether or not there are signs that Wonwoo’s actually into you.”

Chan groaned as Soonyoung laughed heartily. “That sounds so fun, actually,” Soonyoung said. Seungkwan returned his grin.

“It really doesn’t,” Chan countered. “Why can’t you and Hansol go?” he asked Seungkwan.

“I’m busy working on my own projects,” Hansol shrugged. He kept a neutral expression as he continued. “Seungkwan has his capstone.” If Hansol and Seungkwan were both on board, so was Chan, however reluctant he may be.

“So it has to be you and Soonyoung,” Seungkwan confirmed to Chan. “Plus you guys will keep each other balanced, since Chan is a skeptic and Soonyoung is a believer. And you guys get a good grade on your project.”

“C’mon, jackass,” Soonyoung rolled his eyes at Chan. “It’s only a few more weeks till the end of the semester.”

Usually, you and Seungkwan were the schemers of the group. One of you would come up with a plan, and the other would be ready to make it happen. This time however, you had a weird feeling. Anticipation? Excitement? You didn’t have time to decide, because soon, all eyes were on you.

“What do you think?” Seungkwan asked. You scanned their faces. Soonyoung and Seungkwan looked at you with excitement. Hansol also seemed interested in this plan. Chan, though he tried to hide it, also raised an eyebrow in interest.

“Ah,” you sighed. “What the hell? Why not?”

A/N: first, i am soooo sorry that jeonghan caught strays in this one, lol. originally, i was gonna make him a guy who tried to date you to convince you to join a cult (bc surprisingly, when i was in university, cult recruitment was a big thing?) but decided to make him a jack-ass instead. also the idea of Chan being a "can i sing for u" type of guy is so funny to me and you can't convince me that if he had a little sibling he wouldn't be a protective overbearing little shit.

[waytooobsessedwithmcyt]

Thinking about the complete different types of villainy all of the life series members have.

Pearl and Cleo are the easiest comparison, Dl!Pearl had a very manic energy, she felt a little hysterical, not always in control, just swinging her axe at whoever spoke (I could make a whole post about that because I love her so much) while Cleo always has this very calm, in control energy, their most famous villainous act, burning the fairy fort, occured with her above Lizzie and the rest.

Gem's villainy is obviously a kind of sweet manipulative evil. Not much to say on her because she speaks for herself, she kills people and makes them love her for it, it's insane how she talks to people she literally just killed and gets them to thank her. (Like Pearl, hello shiny duo shippers)

Scar is manipulative, like Gem, and desperately wants friends, like Pearl. Although he doesn't quite have the manic energy or the in control feeling of Cleo, he's remarkably good at figuring out exactly what someone wants and offering exactly that but in a way that's wrong, he's like a monkey paw

Ren is obviously an overdramatic theatre kid, he has the stage presence of an old school Disney villain, he strokes his mustache as he hangs Scar over a pool of alligators and demands the banner back. Martyn has the kind of "mastermind behind the scenes but also intensely loyal" villainy, he may be running things, but whatever his king says, goes, and he'll enforce that to the ends of the earth (gay?) the entire red army has the vibe of a wolf pack (I love wolves and I'd like a disclaimer that they rarely attack humans and are not evil) circling in on its prey (the alpha/beta ranking system has been disproven but for the purposes of this allegory I will ask you to suspend your disbelief) waiting for their alpha's command before diving in with terrifying ferocity.

Martyn in every other series is a wild card. I think I saw someone say that he was broken by Ren's death and became an unloyal person because the last person he was that devoted to brought him pain. He's driven further into insanity. His betrayal of Scott feels like a natural conclusion of this. Cleo taught him that even when the game demands that he be paired, he will not be chosen, but he still chose to abandon Pearl who would have chosen him. In secret life, he pairs with Jimmy, who he knows will die, maybe he hopes it won't hurt as much since he knows it will happen, but it does, and then he's the only red, and he's then left out of a huge sever wide event because he's exempt. I'm ranting but I'm so feral about this little dude.

Joel is cursed. Saw someone call it the Dionysus curse, he goes insane on red, he's deadly, efficient, and takes exactly the amount of joy he should, he's an intensely effective hitman who never misses a shot, and never fails to celebrate a death.

Third life Skizz is a type of unhinged, like Pearl, following the wolf pack analogy, he's the one snapping and snarling, just waiting for the release and savouring the kill. He wants to go so fucking feral, he is pure emotion

[dropthedemiurge]

Honestly, at this point, maybe they both should move on and focus on themselves.

I get why Dohoe is acting this way, but I still don't think it's justified, you know? I can 100% understand why he wanted to keep a wall up - I personally would want nothing to do with the person who became the perfect daughter I could never be for my abusive dad. I can even get how Dohoe might've seen himself in Hyeonho and established a truce then grew close, both of them having quietly studied their way out of that town.

I understand all of that, truly. However, Juyeong is still a person, and he doesn't deserve what he is getting. It's true Juyeong is the one who is pushing for a way back into his life. And you know what? maybe Juyeong doesn't deserve closure. But, he also doesn't deserve disingenuous intimacy or vaguely classist comments about where he is in life. He doesn't deserve the mind games. Dohoe is being very unkind. If you're going to let him back in then commit.

I think that unless we see Dohoe go and work through some sort of therapy then the best conclusion would be a bittersweet ending. One that would see Juyeong learn to not invest so much into another person and start figuring out what he even wants out of life.

Dohoe has a lot of healing to do, both of them do. Will being together make it impossible? No. But, from what we are seeing, Juyeong's presence itself is a trigger for Dohoe. Juyeong, who so quickly made a home out of Dohoe, who currently can be likened to a puppy desperate to play with his busy owner, reminds Dohoe of his own. It's quite tragic, really.

A lot of people got an off vibe between them in the episodes that just came out. The reconciliation didn't do it for me personally (could be a language barrier thing tbh). The overall tone is also getting a little too corny for my taste, I'm not a big fan of love triangles and I thought the show was actually portraying it well at the start so I am disappointed to lose that authenticity.

I did not find anything romantic about Juyeong renting a nice car when he is struggling to make rent for his apartment, just so Dohoe (who is classist now for some reason??) will give him time of dsy. If this is the direction the show is taking I will be sad at the lost potential. I have enough confidence in the show to believe that it is all intentional. I think the juxtaposition of the two sex scenes was meant to highlight their emotional distance. Something isn't quite right and I think that is exactly what we are supposed to think.

Fingers crossed for next episode. 🤞

- ☁️

That's what I thought, anon!

Maybe it's not destined for them to be happy with each other without all their burdens. After all, the show is called 'Let Free the Curse' (in Korean too), the requesting, the demanding, the pleading way, and not 'being free of the curse'. The show keeps telling these characters in every episode that they need to let themselves free of the curse, and yes - it was external first, but Dohoe and Juyeoung grew up to be adults, yet they choose the curse over and over again.

I am so damn curious where this is all going.

I agree with all your comments, but also I don't think the blame is solely on Dohoe, you know. That's the thing, there are 2 completely different viewpoints and 2 different pasts that haunts them. Like you said, Juyeong's presence itself is a trigger for Dohoe. We already heard about it in the past 2 episodes, how Dohoe sees him. He is one of 'Them' for Dohoe: enjoying and resorting to violence, selfishly expressing emotions, upholding chains and rules (be it with religion or taekwondo). Dohoe loved him and told him to go away, to break free, tried to care for him in the inevitable violent space -- yet Juyoung stayed, and continued being violent with his dad (and then befriended him), and almost dared to say this was all because of Dohoe, because he sacrificed himself for him when nobody asked him to. As someone who almost became the monster too (when he grabbed that knife), no wonder Dohoe hated the past and everyone connected with it on that side. Juyoung is a selfish monster who made him happy and then came to haunt him. I get it.

And for Juyoung, Dohoe was a sunshine in rain, the little snowflake of happiness in the middle of a shitty life and abandonment. They shared first kisses and thrills, hiding from everyone, dreaming of running away to Seoul together, dreaming about the entire future together - that's how he was able to bear and withstand every beating, every shitty day and neverending insults. His parents got rid of him in hopes he'll stop being a sinner, and Juyeoung couldn't do it, but he found Dohoe – but wait, Dohoe disappeared and left him too. Without explanations, without giving hope (until the message was found years later). Everyone left him, so Juyeoung latched at the monster who beat him up because he felt the similar loneliness. Of course, this will always hurt, of course, he won't be able to move on, of course 12 years time gap feels like one long day because the questions were never answered, because hope was never properly torn out of him. And him seeing Dohoe living a 'better' and more rich life, saying he's finally free but obviously living a lie, still, like he used to -- again, more unanswered questions, and Juyoung deserves answers!

I think language barrier is one thing, but I also got an off vibe with their reconciliation, not in Korean but more like how fast it happened. How not enough information or discussion was provided - but then the episode proved that Dohoe deliberately avoids talking about it, and Juyeoung doesn't call him out, so I think the 'reconciliation' is also a deliberately shown lie. Like a fake snow that is only a surrogate of real happiness.

We're not supposed to be satisfied with them yet. They aren't. Like you said, something isn't quite right and I also think that's exactly what is being told to us. Hohyeon is another guy who's stuck in the past and this curse, but he deserves his own post xD But yes, to me it feels like very deliberate. Happy reunion isn't happy at all.

I'm not sure we'll ever be happy for them, unless both of them let free the curse, once and for all.

[elexuscal]

Ficlet prompt idea! Interactions between ART and Pin-Lee and/or Mensah in the time after NE but before SC.

More thoughts if you wanted more inspiration than a single line. Does Pin-Lee teach ART some new curses ('cause ART curses alot more in this book, and I wanna blame Pin-Lee like how Rhatti mentions the overlap between MB and Pin-Lee's curse vocab)? How great would their banter be, lawyer vs know-it-all-AI?!

Is ART still kinda shy/excited by meeting Mensah?

Thank you~ I really love your work!!!

Awwww thank you very much!

Oh man i was so spoiled for choice here but i really really struggled to think of an interesting take on this

Big thank you to @specialagentartemis who i paraphrased a significant chunk of this from as well as general Vibes

Asshole vs Asshole

So here's the thing. Here's the fucking thing, okay?

Twenty-three days. Twenty-three fucking days of waiting, of worrying, of preparing. Of nearly chewing her own arm off. Of thinking she was walk into a fucking blood bath.

And the Preservation Alliance rescue team finally gets to the scene of the crime, and no one is dead. Which is fucking good, obviously. Okay. She gets it. No one's dead, no one's lost any limbs, and praise the dark gods of yesteryear, no one has even been kidnapped. This is literally better than the best-case scenarios they concocted.

But surely, surely, Pin-Lee can't be the only one who thinks it is fucking weird to be having tea with the person who did the kidnapping in the fist place?

"Thank you, Perihelion," Ayda says, as a shiny blue drone finishes pouring tea into a cup. Just a whiff and a glance is all Pin-Lee needs to know it was brewed exactly the way Dr. Mensah prefers it.

The drone turns to hover to her. It pours a drink into her own mug. Pin-Lee glares at it.

Ayda doesn't look at her, doesn't so much as tilt her head. But they've worked together for a long, long time now, and Pin-Lee nonetheless reads the subtler body language. She grinds out, "Thank you."

She sips the drink. It is coffee and it is extremely bitter and it's warm-but-not-quite-hot and Pin-Lee has a sneaking suspicion it is at least a few hours old.

[You're welcome~] Perihelion's trills as the drone zooms away.

Peri. Fucking. Helion.

Turns out, it's the one that orchestrated this whole thing. The super-secret advanced spaceship that SecUnit apparently befriended while it was off on its journey of self-discovery or whatever decided that it knew exactly who could handle its little pest control problem, and hadn't much cared which innocent civilians got stuck in the cross-fire.

"There were extenuating circumstances," SecUnit had explained, face set like it was ready for a fight.

"It's all fine, water under the bridge," Ratthi had said. "No harm done really."

"Except for the new layers of fresh trauma," Overse had groused.

"But we're handling that, too," Arada had said, with a too-bright smile. "And it's a good thing we're here to help the colonists."

"Yeah yeah and you should see ART's hydroponics bay, it's super cool," said Amena, tugging on her arm.

So suffice to say she was kind of getting some Mixed Signals about this whole thing.

But okay! Corporates descending to steal the livelihoods of hundreds of innocents! Fine! There's a lot at stake! And this is what Pin-Lee is good at, and (sort of) what she was dragged along to handle, so she is willing to put this all aside for the greater good.

Pin-Lee sips at her under-handed-insult coffee and reads over the legal feed documents of this whole cluster-fuck of a case. "Okay," she says at last. "Okay, this is salvageable. But I'm going to need to some more info before I can fully revise this.."

"Of course," says the captain of The Perihelion, a note of genuine relief in his otherwise professional voice. "What do you need?"

"1: A full list of all the symptoms associated with the contamination, and its speed of spread. That'll influence what level of breach this is classified under. 2: Estimates for all of the colonists deaths that were directly caused due to their being stranded. 3: Monetary evaluation of all the colonists' remaining assets..."

"Of course," the captain agrees

Which is fine. Except fifteen minutes later some teenager not-much-older-than-Amena shows up and hands Pin-Lee a stack of paper.

"What's this?" Pin-Lee says, her eyes immediately skidding off of the hand-written tables and charts.

"That's our evaluation of the colonists' assets, like you asked for," the teenager (Turi?) says.

Pin-Lee looks at Turi, to the papers, and back at Turi again. "Can I get this in the feed?"

"Well.... You can..." Turi says, a bit of red in their cheeks. "But..."

"But no guarantee the numbers won't be doctored there," calls Karime from the other side of the lounge.

Teeth grinding in the back of her mouth, Pin-Lee manages, "What?"

[My numbers are perfectly accurate,] Perihelion protests. [It is hardly my fault if none of you are capable of following the calculations.]

Martyn snorts. "It would help if you bothered explaining all your sources."

[Find them yourself.]

Pin-Lee can barely believe what she's hearing. "Are you telling me... that your AI keeps fucking with the numbers so bad that you need to get a teenager to do the accounts by hand."

"I'm not a teenager, I'm twenty-three." Pin-Lee huffs; as if that's a meaningful difference. "And I'm a very, very good accountant." Turi pauses, then admits, "But that's the long and short of it, yes."

Pin-Lee can't help it. She drops her head to the table and hides it under her arms.

[Do you have a problem with this state of affairs?] the very aptly re-named Asshole Research Transport oozes in her private feed.

[You really don't need me to answer that.]

[You're right. I don't.]

She uncurls her finger and makes a rude gesture. Presumably one of its thousands of cameras will see it.

That summons SecUnit into the conversation. [Are you two fucking with each other again?]

[No,] they say in unison.

[Cut it out,] SecUnit says, and then drops away. Truly a master of conflict resolution, that one.

'I'll cut it out when you learn to make nicer friends', she almost sends, but catches the obvious come-back and stops herself. Instead she takes sip of her shitty coffee and gets to work trying to interpret hand-written accounts.

[misc-obeyme]

Really random, but I think Barbatos would be very good at calming down paranoia. It's pretty obvious why; his calming presence, his calming tea, his overall comfort. While all of that is fine and dandy, I think it would also be in an "I'm the most terrifying thing in this house" type of way!

Mc being paranoid about the cursed paintings in the Demon Lord's Castle and Barbatos is just like "You need not worry about them. I am far more dangerous, and you have me on your side." This makes sense, right??? Idk, it makes sense to me.

Maybe it's because he practically raised Diavolo. Maybe it's because he's practically raising Luke, but he just has that supportive vibe!!

Same thing with anxiety. You're anxious? There's a delicious tea for that! You're not in the mood for tea? Well, I've heard mearly having someone else's presence with you could help! You don't want me near you right now? That's alright, I'll wait for you!

He definitely keeps things to help with nerves on his person at all times. He pays attention. He learns through trial and error and observations the things that help you and the things that don't. He's always there looking out for you.

Even if you're just feeling a bit down. He'll either be upfront about it and give you something to cheer you up, or out of nowhere, your favourite treat has magically appeared next to you! Or if you'd like, tell him what's wrong. He's always up for listening.

Honestly, you don't even have to be upset for him to do these things! He'd just go above and beyond whenever you are.

But really, it wouldn't take much for him to calm me down or cheer me up. Just imagine chilling in bed together, not actually doing anything yet still loving the moment. No words even need to be spoken to appreciate the romance of the moment. Just being near him would make me feel so incredibly peaceful and relaxed, I'd most definitely fall asleep.

Anywhoosies, I know this is probably a very popular thought, but I wanted to share silly style anyway!!

Also, I'm happy you think my sleep purring is adorable, I was giggling about that for awhile djwjdwk You're really fueling my late-night-scenarios-to-fall-asleep-to

This is exactly why I love Barbatos so much.

I have a lot of anxiety and I have a lot of shame and guilt around that anxiety. So I don't usually tell people when I'm anxious. I try as hard as possible to hide it.

But Barbatos is observant. And if you spend enough time with him, he'll be able to tell when you're dealing with a lot of anxiety, even if you don't say anything.

The idea that someone is paying enough attention to notice these things about you even when you try to hide it is just... top tier romance for me.

And Barb's whole thing is taking care of people. He wants people to be happy and comfortable. So I can just imagine him doing exactly what you say - kind of trial and error figuring out what works best for you when you're struggling with something.

Add to all that the fact that Barbatos is considered one of the most powerful demons in the Devildom and you've got no reason to feel anything other than calm and safe in his presence.

There's just something about knowing that the person who is being all calm and comfort with you is actually extremely dangerous and everybody else should be wary lol.

And I think it would help with any kind of issue along those lines: anxiety, paranoia, depression, etc etc. Anything where your mind is the culprit and it feels like nobody could possibly understand because they can't be inside your mind with you. Barb can see how it changes you, he can tell when you're suffering, even if you do everything you can to keep it in.

And he's going to be able to give you the space you need to be honest about it. He would sit with you, like you said, he would listen to you if you needed to just rant, he would let you cry on his shoulder if that's what helps.

He isn't afraid of your emotions. He's not going to judge you for them. He's just going to help you however he can.

So yes, I fully agree with you on all of this!

[asthedeathoflight]

Folk music recs as very kindly solicited by @subwaylesbians. Just know that i have arcane and inscrutable ways of coming across music and also literally nobody I know shares my taste in music so I listen to music exclusively in isolation and therefore have no idea what is like normie overplayed music and what is cool obscure music. If anything on here is like the taylor swift of folk music well rest assured that i decided i liked it all on my own. Also. Is all of this music folk music? I dont actually know. I dont know what genres are man i just listen to music i like and then spotify tells me I listen to a lot of folk. Or like sometimes it calls it fucking "stomp and holler" or whatever.

First and foremost. Obviously. Famed pnw folk music outfit Seastar. I personally like their album Never Go Back the best. Very classic folk vibes, they've got songs about like cursed sailors and ghosts and selkies and shit.

The Oh Hellos. My Oh Hellos phase was the stuff of legends and its always threatening to return at a moment's notice. They love to do a concept album and I love that for them. All of their stuff is really good but I will give a special shoutout to the Family Christmas album which i avoided for a while bc like who wants to listen to christmas music, right? Wrong. Its good as hell.

I think Lizzy McAlpine might technically be a pop artist? Whatever I dont care. I like her. I liked her before tiktok knew about her. To The Mountains and Apple Pie are both on my folk playlist because I said so.

The Civil Wars. Are they technically country? Yeah. But who cares we love country in this house. I broadly recommend all their stuff but Barton Hollow and Devil's Backbone are like particularly folk-y for a place to start.

Celtic Woman has the craziest name of any music group ever and it always makes me feel like I'm being culturally insensitive when I say it. Like oh you like music from Ireland? Whats the group called. Whatever man leave me alone. I feel bad for Ed Sheeran recording the original I See Fire for the hobbit movie because they ate him up so bad his version sounds like a shitty knockoff of theirs. For full effect imagine you are me age fifteen flying over the west coast while staring down into active wildfires while listening to that song on loop.

Ill be real with you i Dont understand whats going on with Trousdale like I dont know what their deal is. They seem to be a pop/country group. But in 2021 they released one (1) folksy song called Wouldn't Come Back. And you should put that song on your folk playlist. I love folk thats just like a guitar and some crazy fucking vocals and thats what that song is.

I haven't done enough of my homework on Secret Sisters but their music seems kind of quiet and moody and acoustic and thats like exactly my shit. So. Also do have to give the shout to He's Fine because I love songs that are like gossip. Girl fuck Davey and the Louisiana girl they sound lame as hell.

Usually starting with spotifys suggested tracks for an artist is fine but i think if youre gonna listen to The Arcadian Wild you should start with Wander. Wonder. because its. Weird. And i like it <3

Delta Rae is almost certainly a country band but they qualify as a subgenre of music i like to listen to that my mom calls "evil pagan music" so if you are likewise an evil pagan enjoyer you should listen to them.

Anyways thats a bunch and i need to go to bed now. If anyone listens to any of these and likes them I can point out more that feel similar to them.

Also important note. The actually most important folk band in the world to me is a band my family saw at an outdoor festival when I was like 2 and bought their CD and who have since completely fucking vanished from the internet. I found one reference to their existence on a music venue's website and that's it. My family has been passing the .wav files my mom pulled off the CD (long gone unfortunately) from phone to computer to phone to flashdrive for decades now. I dont know how to share these files with the people of tumblr most effectively but rest assured they matter very deeply to me and I will find some way to put them somewhere.

[pfhwrittes]

Hello again from 💚💚 on this fine day!

Thank you for always answering my questions - I love seeing what people come up with for these silly little questions, and it helps distract me from the current stress of my IRL life 😵

Johnny is my fave of the 141, and I loved your niche hobby HC for him! I'm a habitual hobby cycles- do you think he's tried any of the other 141's hobbies with them??

I also though Gaz's was very fitting. Does he compose his own pieces do you think?

Do you think Simon can also knit, or does he just crochet? What does he do with all his finished pieces? I crochet, and I can never figure out what to do with the stuff I make. Specifically, I love making blankets during winter, and I'm running out of friends to give them to.

Do you have a favorite fall hobby? What about a fall specific food? I personally love going on long walks to see the trees change color. They've just started really turning this week after our first cold snap. I think I'm going to make time for a very long walk this weekend and see what colors I can spot!

hello 💚💚 anon! sorry i'm late to answer, for some reason notifications haven't been showing up in my inbox? tumblr truly is a webbed site.

i hope the stress of life eases soon for you. i'm sending you the most immaculate vibes and sending a small curse of perpetually mysteriously wet socks to the people that have upset you or caused you undue distress. may their toes be damp and their socks chafe.

...do you think [Johnny's] tried any of the other 141's hobbies with them??

oh absolutely! i think he probably took to crochet like a duck to water because it's basically just fibre arts fractals and i like to think he's the best at maths of the lot of them. however, i think he struggled with learning to play the keyboard with gaz. he's not exactly tone deaf but i think he struggles to tell the difference between some of the notes due to slight hearing loss (there's only so many times you can make something go ka-freakin'-boom before your ears give up on you - even with protection).

Does [Gaz] compose his own pieces do you think?

oooh! perhaps! i think if he has, he's kept it very close to his chest. he'll happily rearrange or cover pieces like this (the link should take you to bronwen lewis on tiktok, where she has covered "build me up buttercup").

Do you think Simon can also knit, or does he just crochet? What does he do with all his finished pieces?

i love to imagine simon hates knitting with a passion. he made a very lumpy mustard yellow scarf for soap but frogged it before he could gift it. somehow he manages to pick up and drop stitches at random or his purl row turns back into a knit row midway through.

simon absolutely drops his completed blankets off in the rec room where he knows someone will "tactically acquire" them. there are benefits to living on base and that is the fact that everyone wants one of the mystery blankets that appear overnight on the ratty little sofa.

Do you have a favorite fall hobby? What about a fall specific food?

whenever the season changes my brain turns to sunlight deprived mush so most of my hobbies come to an abrupt and untimely halt. i always want to pick up knitting again but i get frustrated. usually i end up doodling in my journal or writing just to get the urge to create out.

autumn = soup time. unfortunately soup hates me. soup is my nemesis. @/391780 is convinced my mum was cursed by a soup witch when she was pregnant with me because there is no other explanation for how i end up hurting myself (or breaking my soup making equipment) every single time i make soup.

also salmon. salmon is my autumn food. i turn into a bear (god i wish) and crave as much salmon as i can get my mitts on, NHS guidelines be damned.

i hope you have a lovely walk and get to see many many autumnal colours this weekend! it's still too green where i am, maybe next week the leaves will start to change!

[residences-of-the-darkforest]

it’s like twelve am and I’m on my phone so ignore spelling but apparently late nights are perfect for figuring out weird moral codes characters have

case in point, Onyx:

Mans over here feeling guilt over anything vaguely related to his looks or behavior (even praying for forgiveness for things as simple as Not binding his wings), but also. His brother lowkey also influenced him to not give a fuck about small things. ‘Oh rock music? Yeah my parents don’t like it but I do’ ‘technically I’m not supposed to be learning about pagan mythology but I’m already cursed so’ ‘who gives a crap about some words. If I’m going to hell for my wings I think the least of my worries is what I call people inside my head’ etc

anyways it’s a very silly contrast and Aster spends a good few months trying to figure out exactly what Onyx deems ‘fine’ and ‘punishable by death’ because it seems really inconsistent

really the fear should be Onyx drunk or on pain meds lol. No filter Onyx (esp before a lot of the unlearning religion stuff) would be confusing and terrifying

Oh man I love love love hearing people develop their characters, and it is so fun to do!

Also random but idk what they look like exactly other than the wing aspect but Onyx gives me "has ram horns" vibes

I myself use Google Slides for different aspects--one dedicated to character appearances (titled 'How These Bitches Look', very professional), and one dedicated to their personality and character arc. I also have a slide for writing tips!

One of my favourite side characters is like the complete opposite of Onyx--something is "wrong" with her so she has to make up for it by being the best.

She is so unlikeable at first because she always has to be perfect and hates when the main character messes her up and acts like a snarky brat, but later you find out she is ace (though isn't aware of the label). In her religion, which is a whole thing in the book, it is believed that all females must reproduce, that it is what is expected of them and only by doing what is expected of them can they move on to the afterlife when they die. However, she REALLY didn't want to do this and so it was so important to her to be perfect in every other way in the hopes that it would "make up" for her being "broken," that others wouldn't push it if she was otherwise perfect. She also had some level of feeling like she was in the wrong, that the Gods would forgive her for being "broken."

There's also a whole thing later where she rejects the religion and gets pissed at the main character for still believing in it, because it's a whole thing of "no longer believing in a religion that hurt you and being free from its beliefs VS still believing in the religion in general/the Gods themselves but in a way that is detached from the parts of it that caused trauma" (which the mc believed were the followers themselves and how they interpreted/misinterpreted certain things--they were the real problem, not the Gods themselves). Simply because I don't want to make religion out to be the bad thing--it's certain people and how they use it. Also because lots of queer people are still religious and so is the mc!

I babbled too much about my own characters lmao I think I'm just excited to start typing again, I am FREEEEEE

[cr-amber]

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my ao3: where i publish all my fics that are longer than microfics!

multi-chapter fics

I Lose My Voice When I Look At You: marauders band au, features jegulus and wolfstar, 7/10 chapters, rated e, currently 22k words

The Black family own Ministry Records, and Sirius and Regulus were raised to be the next stars. When Sirius goes off on his own, things change.

i think that possibly, maybe i'm falling for you: drarry coffeeshop fic, 13/13 chapters, rated e, 43k words

Harry runs into Draco working at a coffee shop fifteen years after the war, and he’s nothing like Harry remembers.

featuring trans draco, plus size harry, and their lives coming together in the muggle world

perfect little life: jegulus raising harry, 5/5 chapters, rated e, 6.5k words

Just a collection of snapshots from the life of Jegulus raising Harry and being hot and in love.

featuring trans regulus, wolfstar as harry's uncles, and a delicious lil explicit scene at the end

oneshots

jegulus

you can hear it in the silence: rated t, 7.1k words, the black brothers escape to the potters' together.

Sirius and Regulus escape to the Potters' in the middle of the night, and James takes it upon himself to make Regulus' life better.

A Not-So-Secret Admirer Date: rated t, 3.4k words, first date, the sequel to Your Secret Admirer

a secret admirer letter that turned out to not be such a secret leads to a first date at Hogsmeade

the one where sirius is an accidental matchmaker: rated t, 2.2k words, american muggle au, getting together

sirius accidentally (read: forgetfully) ditched regulus for a date with remus so james takes him to a movie instead

bad day: rated e, 1.2k words, trans regulus

Regulus had a bad day. James makes it better.

desperate prayers of a cursed man: rated m, 2.1k words, canon compliant, based on dear reader by taylor swift

He knew he was aiming at the devil. He knew he couldn’t miss. But he had.

you're on your own, kid: rated t, 3.9k words, black brothers focused, based on the taylor swift song

Regulus is on his own. He always has been. Right?

your secret admirer: rated t, 1.7k words

Regulus writes James a secret admirer letter.

call him pretty: rated m, 1.2k words, head boy james is dating regulus

In which Regulus is a simp who has no filter when he’s drunk and misses his boyfriend.

kiss me goodnight: rated e, 4.1k words, my take on the red room scene from rwrb but make it jegulus, trans regulus

James “So I guess I should tell you I’m bisexual” Potter and Regulus “Good to know. I am very, very gay” Black finally get together.

not exactly a secret: rated t, 1.1k words, relationship reveal

James never used to sleep in the head boy dorm, but now he has a reason to. A reason that has been a secret, but won't be for much longer.

you don't even like me: rated t, 1.6k words, mutual pining

In which James has a hopeless crush on Regulus and Regulus has a hopeless crush on James and they each handle it in very different ways.

drarry

you're the one i like the best: rated t, 4.5k words, drarry as professors, inspired by little person by matt maltese

A chance Draco/Harry reunion in a different country, an invitation for them both to teach at Hogwarts, and a friendly seeker’s match. What could possibly happen?

fresh plates and clean slates: rated t, 1k words, holiday/new years vibes, inspired by snow by sleeping at last

Harry’s friends have helped him learn to be a human again after the war, but Draco hasn’t been so lucky, so Harry takes it upon himself to do the same for the man he loves over the holidays.

wolfstar

something to tell you: rated t, 0.7k words, getting together

Sirius has something to tell Remus. It goes better than he expected.

rosekiller

hits different ('cause it's you): rated t, 2.2k words, post bartylus breakup, based on hits different by taylor swift

Evan takes Barty out to help get his mind off his breakup with Regulus.

microfic

all my microfics

wolfstar microfics

drarry microfics

jegulus microfics

my writing: every post in which i've talked about my writing, written something, or shared a snippet!

*do not repost my works to any other site*

[drvirgus]

The life you dreamed of

(Series)

Description: Y/n a K-pop Idol of the 5-Member Group Moonlight. But what happens when she falls in Love? How exactly is her life as an Idol and why did she become one?

Idol! Yeji X Idol! Reader

Warnings: Mention of Bullying and Suicide, curse words

Chapter 24:

Masterlist

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Smiling, I looked once again into my phone camera. As usual, I was seated on my gaming chair, AirPods in my ears, and a cup of coffee in hand. I placed the cup on the desk. Legs crossed, this time I was wearing just a hoodie with the imprint of a game called Persona 5. Below, I had on my pajama pants.

"Hello and welcome back to what will Y/n do in her live this time?" I playfully said, laughing a bit awkwardly. A small sigh escaped my throat. "So, I've mentioned this several times, but I really hate doing lives alone. You guys understand that, right?" I asked as I scratched the back of my head.

"For one, there's the language barrier, although I try to speak both Korean and English. It doesn't always work, unfortunately," I said as I started to hum a bit. "Of course, I think about what exactly I should do or say before starting the live. But in my opinion, my stories are really boring," I laughed.

I tied my hair back again since it had gotten a bit longer, falling over my shoulders. They were still short, but hey, at least longer than before, which honestly bothered me.

"I've really been thinking about going to the hairdresser again. My hair has gotten a bit longer, and that's why I want to cut it. You might not know, as you probably never really saw me with long hair, but long hair really doesn't suit me at all," I said, laughing lightly. My hand wrapped around the cup again, and I took a sip.

"Also, I'm considering dyeing my hair. Not my whole hair, but... hm... rather these Oreo hairs. Like Jennie-Sunbaenim, Ryujin Unnie or Yeji. So just a few strands. The only question is, in which color? I've honestly thought about doing it in purple. What would you guys recommend?" I asked, interested, looking at the many comments.

I'm living for the idea of Oreo hair on you, just like Yeji! 😍 Please make it happen!

Your stories are never dull, Y/n! We genuinely enjoy every moment of your lives! 💖

Your lives are boring because you're boring. No amount of hair dye can fix that. 🙄

Channeling Jennie's vibes? Yes, please! Can't wait to see the transformation. 🌈

Your slightly awkward lives are what make them charming! Keep being your authentic self! 😊

You think you're unique with Oreo hair? More like a wannabe trend follower

What actually happened to the rumors? What happened with Noh Jeong-yang?

My eyes were glued to a particular comment. Almost immediately, I licked my lips. As more comments about the topic started pouring in, I took a deep breath and put on a smile, shaking my head slightly.

"Noh Jeong-Yang. She was charged and lost the court case. That's all I can say about it. I haven't personally met her, and we have no contact with each other. To be honest, I want to nip this topic in the bud. I don't want Wooyeon-ah to be dragged through the mud, and I don't want any haters to speak ill of Wooyeon," I said a bit more seriously. My smile faded as I took another deep breath.

"I don't want to sound rude or attack anyone. But Wooyeon was my best friend. After seeing people making fun of the death of Taehyung-Sunbaenim's grandma, I don't want the same to happen to Wooyeon. So, I won't be saying anything more about this topic in the future. I apologize to the fans who are genuinely concerned and sincerely hope you understand," I added, bowing slightly.

Y/n, your honesty and openness with us fans is what makes you so special. We appreciate you keeping us in the loop about your life. Can't wait to see the new hairstyle! 💇‍♀️💖

Y/n, you're just attention-seeking. Your so-called 'best friend' drama is just a stunt for publicity. 🙄

If there's a kissing scene, I'm placing my bets on Y/n and Kim Tae-ri. Sorry, not sorry! 💋 #ShipSailing

Y/n, if you dye your hair, make sure to match it with your gaming chair. Aesthetic matters! 😂💁‍♀️

Y/n trying to answer rumors like a pro! Meanwhile, I can't even decide what to eat for dinner. 😂👏

Okay, but can we talk about the chemistry between Y/n and Kim Tae-ri in the drama? 🔥 Ship sailing smoothly! 🚢

Sending virtual hugs, Y/n! We're here for you no matter what. Stay strong! 💪💕

Who else is low-key hoping for a 'Jennie Oreo' hair reveal on the next live? I can already imagine Yeji being totally heart-eyed! 😍 #YeYnForever

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Astonished and with my mouth wide open, I stared at my sunbae on the stage. JYP was singing "Sweet Dreams." My mouth seemed to refuse to close. Until someone nudged me. Immediately, my mouth snapped shut, and I looked to my left. Almost instantly, I jolted back in shock.

That... That... That was... That was... PARK BO-YOUNG!!!!!!!!

My breath caught, and I immediately ignored my sunbae's performance. Newjeans had already drained all my energy as I loudly sang along to every single song. But now, my eyes were fixed on the actress next to me.

"I love you," I said, and the woman next to me heard it, causing her to look at me in surprise. Embarrassed, I felt my cheeks visibly heat up. I laughed nervously and bowed once as an apology. "I mean... uh... I know you. No, well... Um... I like you. Not romantically, I mean... Acting! Yes. You, uh..."

Bo-Young giggled at my clear stumbling and grinned happily. The older woman bowed in return as a thank you, but I ended up bowing almost three times as deep. My heartbeat quickened as the woman immediately started a conversation with me. Apparently, she knew me too!!!

Now I could die happily!

However, it didn't take long to hear that when Newjeans and JYP performed, cameras were pointed at us. Almost immediately, each of us gasped for air. I mean, everyone knew how to pose, even if you couldn't control it. Hey... at least I tried to clap.

But... this makeup... why did it remind me of Jackson Wang? Of course, only the kind ordered on Shein...

And this dress. It was beautiful.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Y/n and the actors looked like they just stepped out of a K-drama, and there's JYP, stepping out of our nightmares. 😅

Newjeans: 🌟 Y/n: 🌟 Bo-Young: 🌟 JYP: 👻

I love how Y/n and the actors were all graceful, and there's JYP, the embodiment of chaotic energy. 🤣

Newjeans got us vibing like proud parents, and then JYP came on, and suddenly we're all sending each other therapy bills. 🤦‍♂️

I swear, during JYP's performance, we all collectively forgot how to breathe. Is that part of the concert experience?

Y/n trying to handle the shock of seeing Park Bo-Young is all of us handling the shock of JYP's unexpected serenade. 💔😂

Does he have a humiliation Kink? Everytime i see him he does something like that

"Look at this. They're roasting JYP so hard," I said, laughing as I glanced over at Yeji beside me. The redhead slowly opened her eyes. My smile faded, and I lifted my head from her chest. "Oh, sorry, baby. You're right. It's late," I said with a slight smile.

Yeji mumbled something and looked at the clock. Almost immediately, her forehead furrowed. "It's only 7 PM," the older one said, yawning. I chuckled and shrugged my shoulders. Yeji pulled me back into her arms.

"Yeah, you're right. We have an early appointment at the hair salon tomorrow. A bit of sleep won't hurt, huh?" Yeji sighed softly. Amused, I snorted. My arms wrapped around the taller woman. The blanket was warm and heavy, making it easy to relax.

Yeji was the first of us to fall asleep. My smile grew as I observed the sleeping face of my girlfriend. My heartbeat pounded in my throat. It was unbelievable that I still felt so excited...

"Goodnight, baby."

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Smiling, I stepped out of my manager's van, Yuna closely behind me. I extended my arm to the woman behind me, which she promptly took. After all, she was wearing high heels. Yuna looked at me with a smile. "It feels like we're going to an American prom," Yuna said, laughing lightly. I couldn't help but laugh too.

Since we arrived, photos of us had been taken repeatedly. I smiled into the cameras. Yuna still clung to my arm as we slowly entered the building. I led Yuna, and of course, myself, to one of the tables. Yuna's mouth opened in surprise, and she automatically moved closer to me.

"Oh God... Is this a VIP party? I know almost everyone here," Yuna exclaimed. She squeaked a bit when she gripped my arm tighter. Wincing in pain, I hissed, "Calm down first. Let's find our table first. Which letter do you have?" I asked, and Yuna looked at me. She let go of my arm, "J," she replied, and my eyebrows almost shot up.

"Oh. Are we not sitting together?" I asked, and Yuna also looked surprised. Sighing, I smiled nervously. God, I hated sitting next to strangers...

I immediately extended my arm to the younger one, which she promptly took. Slowly but surely, we strolled to her table. On the way there, we casually greeted everyone. Orange hair immediately caught my eye, and my mouth opened. Yuna grinned widely and immediately sat down next to my girlfriend.

"Yuna, let's switch," I immediately suggested. A nervous smile on my lips. "No. You spent time with her yesterday and this morning! Now it's my turn," the younger one said, laughing. Yeji also laughed, so I looked at her. A small smile on my lips.

"Hey, sexy. Nice hairstyle," I said, winking, which made Yeji laugh even more. She licked her lips once, "I could say the same to you," Yeji replied with a small grin on her face. But my eyes fell on her outfit, and I gasped. Almost automatically, my hand landed on the table as I leaned slightly towards the person sitting.

"Hwang Yeji. Do you want to send me to the grave?" I asked, making Yeji tilt her head, grinning broadly. A laugh escaped her, which she tried to cover with her hand. "So? Do you?" I asked teasingly once again. However, Yeji stopped smiling, her fingers around my elbow as she looked deep into my eyes.

"Not yet. It's way too early. Not until you become a Hwang as well," the older one replied, leaving me speechless. My heart threatened to jump out of my chest, and my entire face turned bright red. "Oh. Are you blushing?" she asked in a deep and sexy tone.

"Yeji-ah," I complained a bit louder, which only made Yeji laugh even more. Goosebumps ran over my entire body, and I straightened up again. "Move. That's my seat," I heard someone say to Yuna, and I had to start smiling.

Ryujin also smiled at me as Yuna looked at her with her mouth open. "I'm table J," Yuna replied, but Ryujin shook her head. She pointed to another table. "There's your seat," the older one said, and almost immediately, Yuna pouted. "Oh, come on... I never get to see Yeji-Unnie," the younger one complained as she slowly stood up from her seat.

But my eyes returned to Yeji, and I smiled. "I should find my seat now. Shall we go home together?" I asked, and the older one nodded immediately. I nodded as well and sent her an air kiss as quickly as possible, then disappeared from her table.

When I finally found the letter of my table, I sat down immediately. I felt someone hit me with a bag, so I looked at the person next to me with enlarged eyes. It was Karina from Aespa.

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" the older woman asked, and almost immediately, her hand landed on the back of my head. Nervously, I laughed and waved it off, "It's okay. It honestly just surprised me a bit," I replied as calmly as possible. The woman next to me sighed in relief and sat down.

Next to her was Namjoon from BTS, which honestly made me nervous. Immediately, I grabbed my champagne glass and took a big sip. Immediately, I heard Namjoon chuckle. He also held a glass, occasionally taking a sip from it. "Let me guess," he said, humming. His eyes on Karina and me.

"Extroverted?" he asked, pointing at Karina. "And you're probably introverted," the older man said, causing my mouth to open slightly. Karina immediately agreed, while my eyes narrowed a bit, but I started to nervously laugh at the same time. "Um... how did you figure that out?" I asked, and Namjoon laughed again.

"You're clutching your glass as if your life depends on it," he replied, making me blush even more. Karina now looked at me with a smile, "What percentage?" she asked interestedly. Clearing my throat, I placed my glass on the table and looked at the two idols. "96," I replied, which seemed to shock both of them.

"Don't worry. We'll take care of you," Karina said, laughing slightly, and she immediately wrapped her arm around me. My face turned even redder as I simply started to smile.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Laughing, I glanced at Karina and Namjoon as the three of us started to dance. We swayed to the music, each of us holding a drink. My cheeks were already a bit red from all the alcohol I had consumed.

Perhaps I was already quite tipsy...

"I'm going for a smoke," Namjoon said, and my eyes widened a bit. Karina just nodded it off, but I held the older man's arm firmly. "What about the cameras?" I asked, which made Namjoon laugh. "Don't worry. I found a good corner. No cameras there," he replied, and I immediately nodded. "I'll come with you," I said, causing Karina's eyes to widen.

Relaxed, Namjoon and I headed to that quiet corner. He grabbed a cigarette and lit it. He noticed my look and offered me one. "Thanks. I don't bring cigarettes to avoid smoking, of course. You know... for female idols, it's still a bigger scandal," I sighed as I lit my cigarette.

"I know. I hate it too. But that's how it is. Everyone... has some opinion about you. The problem is you can't make everyone happy," the older man replied as he exhaled the smoke.

We continued to talk about how unfair it all was and how sexist it is. Namjoon also told me that he was reading a feminist book, which honestly surprised me. It was nice to talk to him. He was smart and patient. He let me speak and followed my thoughts.

Together, we all returned to the party, and almost immediately, I noticed Karina taking photos with some people. However, my eyes immediately fell on a bundle of orange hair. With a broad smile, I went straight to her, my arms around her waist.

The older one startled and turned to me. Simultaneously, she also wiped away my grip. My mouth opened in surprise, but Yeji immediately relaxed when she realized who was touching her. A laugh escaped her throat as she looked at me.

"You smell. Have you been smoking?" the older one said, her tone a bit more serious as she scrutinized my entire face. I visibly swallowed nervously and took a step away from her. Yeji sighed irritably, her eyes now slightly narrowed. Karina was right by my side, her arm around my shoulder since she was taller than me.

"Oh, Yeji. You know Y/n?" she asked, visibly surprised. Yeji glanced at the arm around my shoulder and then at Karina. "Yes," she replied, and Karina chuckled. Her fingers pinched my cheek. "Isn't she sweet?" Karina said, laughing lightly. I smirked, causing Yeji to narrow her eyes even more.

"Are you drunk?" the older one asked, looking at me. I just smiled even wider, trying to appear sweeter. Yeji took a deep breath and looked at me, her eyebrows tightly furrowed as she still noticed the arm around my shoulder. Karina didn't seem to notice at all.

Unfortunately, I didn't notice it either. Karina's body leaned against mine, and she just grabbed my glass, drinking from it without asking. Nervously, I swallowed when I immediately noticed Yeji's expression. Even Ryujin noticed this. "Karina, let go of Y/n," the slightly older one said, looking back and forth between Yeji and Karina.

"Why? She's so warm and sweet. Almost like a teddy bear," Karina said, visibly amused. I felt Yeji grab my wrist. "We should go home," Yeji said, her voice quieter. I nodded immediately with my head. Ryujin also grabbed Karina immediately and whispered something into the older one's ear.

I swallowed. "Are you... mad?" I asked, now a bit quieter as I approached her. Yeji took another deep breath, her hand in mine. "You said you'd quit smoking," Yeji said a bit softer. I pouted immediately. "I'm sorry. But I swear I haven't smoked all day," I replied now more seriously. Yeji smiled slightly.

Her hand still in mine, she said, "Let's go home. I want to spend some more time with you. Just you and me." The smile on her face made me smile too. I looked around. "But... can we stay a bit longer? I... would honestly like to have another drink," I replied, causing Yeji to start laughing.

She nodded her head. "But not too much, okay? I don't want you to fall asleep," Yeji said, smiling. Almost immediately, I heard Ryujin and Karina gasp for air. Both seemed to have heard it.

"Asleep?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. Yeji just smiled. "Oh. And no more flirting," Yeji added as she lightly squeezed my hand and then let it go.

Karina, Namjoon, and Y/n hanging out together? Squad goals! 🌟

I love the camaraderie between these idols. It's heartwarming to see them having a good time!

The way Y/n flirts with everyone is so cringy. Can't she be more professional?

I ship Y/n with both Yeji and Karina, they look so cute together! 🚢💕

Ryujin needs to mind her own business. Stop interfering. 🤦‍♂️

Karina and Y/n dancing together is ICONIC! Friendship goals, seriously

Why is Yeji acting like a jealous girlfriend? It's just annoying. Y/n can handle herself, she doesn't need a babysitter

Ryujin and Karina witnessing the drama like they're watching a K-drama live. Can we get popcorn?

Ryujin playing matchmaker with Y/n and Karina. Is this a new idol ship? #KarYn #MatchmakerRyujin 🚢💖

Namjoon diagnosing Y/n's personality based on how she holds a glass is peak Sherlock Holmes material

[hxhhasmysoul]

Yeah I need to re-read those chapters too, I feel like I skipped through some stuff or maybe it was the leaks that confused me? Because when I see the leaks I kind of skip that panel because I saw it, does it make sense? Guess not XD

Yes! I can't wait to see what Gege is cooking for us!

I agree, but the prison wouldn't be Yuji's body and soul? Like the combo?

For now I only see the body swapping thing the only way to save megumi, unless there is something about that last finger ( I like the theory of nobara waking up and hitting it, but... if gojo couldn't destroy it, can she resonate that thing? She needs to pierce it and I don't think she can)

At this point I am just hoping choso and Hiromi won't die XD I love them a lot, mostly because Hiromi is like an oc of mine and choso is too precious, so cute XD

Remembered about the comedian guy, I wonder what his role would be too? It was said the dude was very powerful, dunno what he can pull off.

Oh yes, I really like Sukuna XD he is a good villian, he is evil because he vibes with it, he is strong because he wants to be, he eats and kill people because yes XD no complicated reasons, he is just true to himself. I like that.

Can't help but wonder what kind of pact/contract he did with kenjaku though. Someone like sukuna must have a good reason for that, just wonder what it is...

And I really like his annoyed expression XD like when talking with yorozu or inside his domain after taking yuji's heart out XD love that face!

Yes! I think as of right now both yuji and sukuna have a personal beef. Sukuna because yuji is his prison and whether he likes it or not, yuji is good at suppressing him. For yuji, well, poor boy was / is tortured by sukuna.

Oh which makes me think, if sukuna and yuji ends up on the same body, will their pact return? The one that sukuna cannot kill anyone? It should, because it something done with yuji's soul... maybe that's the key to saving megumi?

Bah! I get so excited to read what happens next!

This manga has been really fun, truly! Heart breaking at times, but so much fun!

I wish I could thank Gege somehow... ih sorry for blabbering about this XD

As to the the body and soul being the prison together, i think so, yes. In JJK there's really little difference between the two, more like one feeds into the other. The body being the byproduct of the soul, from Mahito's pov. But also the body retaining some of the soul even after death what Kenjaku uses to retain the techniques of the bodies they wear. And also what Sukuna uses to transfers himself between vessels, because the finger he rips off and feeds to Megumi is well, dead the moment it separates from Yuuji.

I think Nobara's power could work with Sukuna's finger, I mean it can't be destroyed but putting a nail in it isn't exactly destroying it. If Yuuji ate it, she'd just need to put a nail into him and that's easy. I have my gripes with the Yuuji will eat the last finger theory because it feeds into the fandom shittakes of "Yuuji's powers come from Sukuna, he's nothing without Sukuna". But it's not completely impossible that he will eat it. And I'm all for Nobara coming back and fighting alongside Yuuji, I love her and love it when they pair up. But truth be told, I'd rather the last finger didn't come into play, at least not as something Yuuji would eat.

I also hope for Higuruma and Chousou's survival, I also hope for Hakari and Kirara surviving because they are such a sweet couple. I also want Maki to survive, she had to endure enough, she deserves a break. And I want Hana to survive and be able to save people. And I want Uro to survive because she deserves a better life than the one she had before. Also if Gege kills Yuuji I will lose my mind. But I know the cursed cat is capable...

Takaba can theoretically pull of anything but he isn't exactly trained or fully aware of his powers. And he also needs to come up with a joke to make that happen. But I hope he does something fun.

As to Sukuna having a contract with Kenjaku, he might have one. But he might also just be interested in what Kenjaku is up to, Sukuna is a little cursed energy nerd too. He might hide it under the feral hunky image, but he clearly loves jujutsu and has thought about it a lot. Other than that he might simply owe Kenjaku without a binding vow, it's not impossible that Kenjaku and/or Tengen took in this unwanted child. There are so many possibilities, I hope Gege gives us a Heian flashback soon.

That one binding vow Sukuna had with Yuuji is done, fulfilled. It spanned a minute. Sukuna said he wasn't going to hurt anyone for a minute after he said "enchain". And I think Yuuji can cage him without a vow anyway, he'd just need to be in the same body as Sukuna again.

Sukuna has amazing expressions. And I especially love that the belly mouth is expressive too. It's also amazing how distinct his expressions are from his vessels'. Amazing job by Gege. And Sukuna refusing to engage with his little fandom really made me love him.

[itsbebebrainrotting]

Rant incoming, sorry!!

Do they even know WHY they are fighting and killing??

Im still trying to figure out why tubbo and bad thought to attack red first and then yell revenge when red retaliated. Like, why?? (I'm crow and red main so I probably won't watch the others for the lolz) Chaotic angst energy.

And people keep saying because of Dapper and what Dapper said. And I'm like "what?" Because with that same logic/energy qPhilza can say the same if decided to do the same. "Chayanna said to protect Tallulah no matter what- so Ima kill everyone in sight for whatever reason." That sounds crazy. Right? (Is it just me??)

Like we(their little community/family) been talking and communicating all this time why now does it go out the window? because some random guy who doesnt like us said so? (Quackity did warn them in Brazil tho)

We know the fed dont like us and can't be trusted so why are we not having that same energy towards this guy?

Like I get it, I do. Things are on the line or so it seem but why aren't we actually thinking things through?? Talking?? Coming up with a plan to get everyone and the eggs home. Do we not care for all life anymore?

Its about to be Day 3 and I am so drained from Day 1. Like Charlie's voice, I'm struggling now. My soul is heavy as a red pov.

And yes we won Day 2 but everything has consequences... like please..

I- I just want them to talk for more than a couple seconds.. minutes before thoughts of killing off rip..

*peepoHands*

(I hope it was okay to come to you)

Dont worry about the rant! I like hearing other peoples opinions on things and dont get many asks often so anythings appreciated.

As someone whose main povs are team blue i still understand you entirely but also can explain a couple things (in a similar ranty form lol):

First of all as to why they were killing: I think on day one the competitive nature of the event was at the forefront of blues mind. Bad had been told by his son (who, remember, he literally kidnapped a worker to save) to do anything to win even if it hurt others. Which honestly does imply hostility a bit more than chayannes message. Tubbo also wants chayanne and tallulah (and richarlyson) back like theyre his own children (and has definitely been over excited and trying to prove himself as leader of blue so is being more competitive for his own pride). They were thrust into this situation with all that in mind and just wanted to win by any means, or at least thats the vibe i got.

None of them fully understood the rules of the event either. They tragically fell to the tragic mcyt curse of not reading instructions. They didnt even think about the cursed team until i think it was slime who said he thought red was cursed at which point niki insisted (and still insists) she doesnt think there is a cursed team. Tubbo thought the cursed team changed daily, if you want further proof that rules were not at the forefront of their mind. They just wanted to win since that was what the eggs had said to do. Of course now ccs are more aware of the rules they are keeping them in mind but no one seems to be proposing full teamwork yet.

Funny enough, i think ive mentioned it in a post before but red being their target on day 1 was entirely on accident. Bad killed slime first under the impression he was on green and then continued to go for his team because they happened to be not too far. From what ive gathered, green was bloodthirsty but struggling to find the other teams so thats why blue and red originally started fighting. As for getting angry at retaliation? I think thats just competitive spirit getting in the way.

The whole thing was slightly frustrating personally from a viewer pov because im exactly with you in the fact that they should be talking. They should be figuring out the cursed team. They should be boosting the cursed teams stats. But they didnt understand that and instead went hostile immediately due to the newness of the whole thing.

Even yesterday bad was considering killing red and i was a little frustrated. I get that he was annoyed (if u dont know yesterday blue grinded global tasks but were barely gaining percentage compared to etoiles - at one point they handed smth in and got like 1% - and bad thought kills may have helped them a bit) but blue didnt need to win day 2! If anything that wouldve been detrimental to them considering the cursed team is still unknown (but bbh thinks blues cursed so...). Eventually he settled on bargaining with them by offering something in return for a kill but never got a chance to because he ran out of time. Still, the suggestion was a bit frustrating at the time as someone who was seeing red having a terrible time from liveblogs.

I definitely consider most of day one out of character, as there is no way in hell the characters shouldve been acting the way they did considering all they were supposed to know. Even if qbbh would do anything for dapper he definitely wouldnt outright hurt his friends or risk the other eggs chances of survival. (Also this entirely broke cellbits current arc of being very agressive considering how badly hes been beat down this event.)

Even just hearing about red on both days was draining for me. The one reason im not vodwatching them is that i could feel the draining vibes from liveblogs alone so i cant image what it must be like to main them and while im happy they won, their strategy today was a lot more aggressive compared to everyone else who was trying to tone it down a bunch so i fear for the next few days on everyones povs as the aftermath of that plays out.

Thankfully ive heard bagi wants to unite the teams and bad and baghera discussed getting a group together to theorise about the cursed team so maybe between the three of them things can start moving in the right direction and return to being in character and communicating. Todays the event which may not allow for anyone to unite everyone immediately but i hope they do sooner rather than later.

[darkpoisonouslove]

If you've already answered this, I apologize.

Which winx character do you see matching which fairy tale figure? (Like is Bloom a Cinderella or Layla an Ariel? Musa could be a Pied Piper or Mulan?)

I dont know... Just... After the let down of Mythix and how it could have been, I'd like your thoughts. Maybe the boys and the teachers and villains too? Well the trix and valtor anyway... And the main teachers.

Im just curious. Thank you!

I don't really think that Winx correspond well to any fairytale characters. Honestly, including tales from Earth in the Legendarium was a mistake all along. They should have just made up stories that come from the Magic Dimension and fit each girl.

That said, I think the mirror from Snow White that Selina and Darcy used on Stella was an idea that had a lot of potential. She does have a kind heart and beauty that could have moved a huntsman. Her dad almost got married to an "evil stepmother" type of character. And the aviary is one of his favorite places which could in a way connect to Disney's Snow White (as birds seem to love her) if they also gave Stella a love of birds. Honestly, I think that given the whole story with Cassandra, the twist to make Stella into the Evil Queen was a really good concept that could have worked spectacularly with better execution. They could have addressed Stella's rage in season 3 over being replaced by Chimera in the spotlight and having her title taken away (it was discussed at the very least, although I am not sure if Radius went through with it eventually). To me at least, some of Stella's lines regarding that made it sound like she's more mad that Chimera gets to be the star rather than about what Cassandra was doing to her father so they could have used that in a continuation of her season 3 arc. There was a good story there; they were just afraid to dig deep enough.

I'd say Musa could work in a Beauty and the Beast kind of thing with Riven but with the twist that she needs to open up too, get in touch with her emotions and start to see the best in people (although 6x22 gave insane Little Mermaid vibes but that doesn't really fit her).

I can see Bloom a little bit as the Little Mermaid. Curious about the magical world and wanting to be part of it. Falls in love with a prince that has a dog (Disney version). Also a redhead and doesn't think things through before acting. Kind of a fish out of water at first because she didn't know she had magic for 16 years. Which also makes her resemble Sleeping Beauty to a degree (if the Sleeping Beauty story had bothered with Sleeping Beauty's experiences and perspective). Separated from her parents and her true identity because of a curse. That checks out. The finale of season 2 could also count as True Love's Kiss waking her up from a curse. But it's kind of surface-level.

Honestly, I feel that Layla maps out best not to a fairytale, but to the Greek myth of Atalanta. She has a lot in common with Atalanta and Nabu kind of resorts to trickery to get close to her (like the guy in the myth whose name I don't remember) but then they fall madly in love with her. Also, the end of that myth is tragic because their love leads them to exhibit hubris that Zeus punishes them for but I hate that just like I hate what the writers did to Nabu in season 4 so... there's that.

I'm not sure about Flora and Tecna. Like I said, any similarities to fairytale characters are a little vague at best, which is understandable. Fairytale characters tend to be flat, usually having one or two defining characteristics that keep the story simple. The Winx girls are a lot more complex despite the later seasons' best efforts and I don't think a fairytale character can encapsulate their personalities well enough. This is exactly the reason why I believe they should have made up stories from the Magic Dimension. It would have allowed them to tailor the legends to the specifics of the situation each girl would be dealing with and make the comparisons between Winx and the fairytale characters meaningful. I should know, that's the same approach I am using in one of the fics that I am working on to add more nuance to the story and reveal emotions.

[ncttheprincess]

Closed starter for: @naturallytwofaced Location: Evermore Pride Festival

Zelda was happy as could be, thriving, and having fun. Nothing could ruin her vibe in the moment. She'd just emerged from the rave and was covered in more glitter than she had entered it with on. She had a content look on her face though as she waited for a drink at one of the stands that sold fun cocktails. She'd opted for a blended rainbow drink with plenty of spike in it. After turning to walk off she ran into someone, causing her drink to drop from her hands and spill at her feet. Her first instinct was to jump back so it didn't get on her shoes and afterwards all she could for for a few seconds was stare with a sad look on her face before looking up at the person she'd ran into. "I'm so sorry," she said. "I hope it didn't splash on you." When she realized who exactly it was she was speaking to she was only more embarrassed, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks. Of course the mayor would be here, looking as dreamy as ever too. Zelda internally cursed herself and simply smiled awkwardly. Sure, she was upset about the drink but that problem had long since past and now she felt foolish. She wasn't going to let that put a damper on her night though! "I mean...I should have been looking where I was going. My apologies, Mr. Mayor," she said softly, glancing up at him slightly but not enough to look him in the eye.